Virat Kohli leaves his place after Gill injury, gamble ends in disaster after 8 years and gets sent off for duck by young pacer

Who will bat for India at No. 3 in the first Test against New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru? There was some confusion in this regard after Shubman Gill, India's designated No.3, was unavailable for selection due to a stiff neck. Gill was replaced in the eleven by Sarfaraz Khan but he has rarely batted in that position in domestic cricket, let alone international cricket. In the three Tests he played, he batted above No. 6 only once.

In the official team sheet presented to the match officials, Virat Kohli was ranked at number 3. Although the team list does not always guarantee the actual batting order, it is the most important indicator, especially when all other players are listed with their exact batting numbers.

In his 116-Test career, Kohli has batted at No. 3 only six times without much success. He scored just 97 runs at an average of 19. He doesn't have half centuries to his name. His highest batting score at No. 3 is 41. The last time he batted in the top order was against the West Indies in 2016. With the form he is in this year, with no notable score to his name, that is so he is unlikely to want to move up from his preferred No. 4 spot, where he has had his most success in this format.

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim, who is part of the broadcast team for the first Test, said that KL Rahul will start at number 3 based on his batting experience alone at the top of the order.

But surprise, surprise! India stuck to the team sheet and got Virat Kohli at number 3 after captain Rohit Sharma lost his stumps while trying to rush Tim Southee down the track.

Kohli's venture fails

Kohli stormed to middle in the 7th over. The Chinnaswamy crowd, Kohli's home ground in the IPL, greeted him with thunderous cheers. There was a spring in his step. Kohli was close to the middle even before Rohit left the playing arena.

However, the gamble didn't work out as Kohli was dismissed for a duck after 9 balls. He couldn't control a rising delivery from Will O'Rourke. The ball came back sharply, caught the inside half of his gloves and went to the small, fine-legged fielder, who made no mistake.

Persistent rain prevented a game on the first Wednesday after heavy showers in the previous 48 hours. But the match started on time on Thursday under cloudy and ominous skies and under lights at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“We want to put runs on the board,” said Sharma after the toss. His New Zealand counterpart Tom Latham also said he would have struggled after the test was shortened to four days.

India made two changes to their XI compared to the last Test with Shubman Gill and Akash Deep missing and replaced by Sarfaraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav. New Zealand opted for three seamers and the spin of Ajaz Patel as Mitchell Santner was unavailable.

India are at the top of the World Test Championship standings and a 3-0 win in this series against New Zealand would all but secure their place in the final at Lord's next June.

After the 2-0 win against Bangladesh in the previous Test series, a full Indian squad was once again available.

New Zealand is already on a long subcontinental tour. It started with a poor test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida, India, followed by a 2-0 series defeat in Sri Lanka.

The second Test will be played in Pune from October 24 and the third in Mumbai from November 1.