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

The official team sheet submitted to the match officials listed Virat Kohli at No.3. While the team sheet does not always guarantee the actual batting order, it is the biggest indicator, especially when it lists all the others in their exact batting numbers.

In his 116-Test long career, Kohli has batted at No.3 only six times without much success. He has scored only 97 runs at an average of 19. He has no half-centuries to his name. His highest score batting at No.3 is 41. The last time he batted in the top-order was against West Indies in 2016. With the kind of form, he is in this year, with no significant score to his name, it is unlikely he would like to move up from his preferred No.4 spot, where he has had his most success in this format.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim, who is part of the broadcasting team for the first Test, said KL Rahul will start at No.3 purely because of his experience of batting at the top of the order.

But surprise surprise! India stuck to the team sheet and in walked Virat Kohli at No3 after captain Rohit Sharma lost his stumps while trying to charge down the track to Tim Southee.

Kohli's gamble fails

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

The gamble, however, did not pay off, as Kohli was dismissed for a duck off 9 balls. He could not control a rising delivery from Will O'Rourke. The ball came back in sharply, caught the inner half of his gloves and went to the short fine leg fielder, who made no mistake.

Persistent rain prevented any play on the first day Wednesday after heavy showers in the preceding 48 hours. But play started on time Thursday under cloudy and threatening skies and under lights at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“We want to put runs on the board,” Sharma said after the toss. His New Zealand counterpart Tom Latham also said he would have batted now that the test has been reduced to four days.

India made two changes to its XI from its last test, with Shubman Gill and Akash Deep missing out and replaced by Sarfaraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav. New Zealand opted for three seamers along with the spin of Ajaz Patel as Mitchell Santner missed out.

India is atop the World Test Championship standings, and a 3-0 win in this series against New Zealand would all but assure its spot for the final at Lord’s next June.

After beating Bangladesh 2-0 in the preceding test series, a full-strength Indian squad was once again available for selection.

New Zealand has already been on a long subcontinental tour. It began with a washed-out test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida, India, followed by a 2-0 series loss in Sri Lanka.

The second test will be played in Pune starting Oct. 24 and the third in Mumbai from Nov. 1.

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