‘I am happy to go at three,' tells you the mindset – Dinesh Karthik on Virat Kohli

India had a questionable outing with the bat in the first innings of the opening Test against New Zealand as they were skittled out for 46. To make matters worse, India had five players who scored ducks in that innings including the likes of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Talking on Cricbuzz, RCB batting mentor Dinesh Karthik pointed out that despite failing to open his account in the first innings after a bit of extra bounce left Kohli rattled, the mindset in such a situation from the latter was elite. DK pointed out that the ball was drifting vehemently at that point in time and with that being said, ideally, any batter would have hesitated to walk out to the center.

DK said, “I am not protecting Virat Kohli. He has the temperament and technique of some of the greatest batters that have ever played. If I make a change, it is because I believe that player will do well there, not because I want to protect Virat Kohli. He walks in at no. 3 in every ODI, he opens in T20, now you can say the ball is different, it's not moving as much, 100 percent, in Test cricket where is the best suited place for Virat Kohli, no. 4.”

Virat came out at number three because Shubman Gill wasn’t a part of the playing XI due to a stiff neck. With the kind of movement on offer, it would have left anyone perplexed and with too many questions about what exactly should be the approach.

Karthik further added, “Commendable on Virat Kohli also, he could have easily said, 'no, let me bat at four, because you can put KL Rahul or Sarfaraz Khan at three.' Coach would have said, 'fine, I will manage that conversation.' The fact that he said, 'no, I am happy to go at three,' tells you the mindset. Results are one thing, obviously it hasn't gone his way today, but just the fact that India is at a place where people are willing to adapt and at the same time give respect to what the coach thinks, I won't say it is the right decision. I still feel personally KL should have batted at three, that's what I feel, that's different. But I definitely don't follow Gambhir's thinking of let's have the same batting order, so that there's consistency in their thought process and eventually the results will come out.”