Ind vs NZ: 'Ganguly, Tendulkar never wanted...', Manjrekar lauds Kohli for batting at No. 3 in Bengaluru Test

Former Indian batter-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar lauded 'true champion' Virat Kohli for coming out to bat at No. 3 on Day 2 of the first Test between India and New Zealand, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Thursday (Oct 17).

[{"selector":"#anim-813fde07-9aaf-4317-b8fe-5ea1349f1c3f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-de801fe9-6ba6-4816-88ff-7835bdd7ebed","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a0912c8e-b841-4c7b-8256-7f81e1958856","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

Kohli was promoted to No. 3, from No. 4, due to Shubman Gill not playing the series opener because of a stiff neck. Kohli came out soon, with India opting to bat first on Day 2 following a washout on Wednesday, after captain Rohit Sharma's dismissal (2). He, however, failed to open his account and was dismissed by William ORourke for a 0 (9).

[{"selector":"#anim-0120cc8e-8db4-44af-9b61-6f124c508531","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c581b5d6-dd54-420a-a243-33471fc5e6f1","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-376b2bd3-88c3-4b3c-95f1-584af64f6eda","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

Manjrekar, however, hailed Kohli for doing the difficult job, at No. 3, and cited how Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar never wanted to come up the order in Tests but only in ODIs.

[{"selector":"#anim-1fd48281-889d-41fd-814a-4398f3f47ded","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d6d55a3e-3be2-4d44-b665-8b19390b4490","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-3e345da4-a891-4454-a542-c266c0b2cd9f","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

'Ganguly, Tendulkar never wanted to go up the order in Tests'

[{"selector":"#anim-a6e9835f-88b1-46e9-9d2a-3450cbbb274f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-3bf95def-ce0b-494a-95d0-e038eee05a59","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-3e38f2c7-5e68-4371-a853-4457efb74bfe","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

Despite Kohli's flop show, Manjrekar praised him for turning up in a tricky situation, on an unusual slot. He wrote on X, formerly Twitter,

[{"selector":"#anim-41601c7e-42e1-4316-a409-78ed99fdbc5b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-eda877c4-6f04-4cb3-b2d6-b6d986f2a718","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-4c15e685-b748-41dc-bfa1-d341121c5004","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

"Hats off to Virat Kohli! Coming out to bat at no 3 bcoz the team needed it. Ganguly, Tendulkar were very keen to open in white-ball cricket, but never wanted to go up the order in Tests. That’s a true champion right there for you! Virat"

[{"selector":"#anim-4161e151-6626-450a-8c15-e0ed5af47b98","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-39f1a804-7fb6-4747-824b-9763b7592619","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b1b81e44-bad0-4fc0-8b41-8924fb3b32ff","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

Kohli was removed by ORourke courtesy of a well-executed short-of-length ball, which got extra bounce and nipped back to the batter. The star Indian player nicked it with his gloves as the ball went flying to Glenn Phillip, stationed at leg gully.

[{"selector":"#anim-dfdb2478-212c-4a6a-9acb-29a17cc27636","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-4ab3606a-dd2d-4f5d-be51-aaba0e559d6e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-673385ee-2d81-4096-9201-9124a52e3399","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

Manjrekar also highlighted Kohli's issues post his dismissal. He mentioned, "Have said this before will say it again. Virat has compounded his problems by wanting to be on the front foot to every ball. No matter the length. Today’s dismissal ball could have been comfortably tackled off the back foot."

[{"selector":"#anim-86b5aeca-d98e-49b0-bf7d-a0ab120f6385","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cf89a84a-fbb8-4cb1-9c71-26d419a8f769","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e256f813-70ea-4997-810a-e3fa9d2cb325","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

Kohli has a woeful record at No. 3 (where he batted after eight years and averages a woeful 16.16 including the latest outing). However, he still came out to bat to fill in for Gill. This also became his first-ever duck in Tests since 2021 (also coming against NZ).

[{"selector":"#anim-8f3f21e7-ecbd-47b5-8298-fa06f387dc45","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5f45f39c-82f3-48c7-b090-ecbe7a0bb51b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2ce47eb4-c044-47b4-a08a-a2bf6e561cdf","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish

The former Indian captain has been below-par in Tests for long. His last fifty-plus score came in Dec 2023 (versus South Africa). In addition, he has only two centuries since 2019.

[{"selector":"#anim-d3e50cdb-2594-4b51-9eee-17ec2e4d2f4c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f149da13-e6cd-4cbc-be28-95ad489edbe1","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-40dc8062-c8f4-4ce1-8f59-59315a6c8df6","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Large Radish