Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that Virat Kohli is the ideal person to bat at number 3 for India in Test as Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Senior batters Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were axed from the Test squad after underwhelming performances in the past few series.
After Kohli’s relinquishment as Test captain, India are going through a transitional phase as the selectors dropped several senior players as Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma also joined the two senior pros in the list.
Several young players like Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal are expected to replace Pujara and Rahane at number 3 and five.
However, Gavaskar believes that Kohli should bat at number 3 for India as the best batter is ideally suited for the position.
“Ideally, Kohli should go at No.3. Because the best batsman you see…Ricky Ponting goes at 3. Joe Root bats at No.4, but I feel he will be batting at No.3 in West Indies. So the best batsman of the team is batting at No.3. He is capable of tackling the new ball in case there is an early wicket and he has also got the ability to up the tempo of the team has got off to a good start. So Kohli at three would be ideal,” Gavaskar told India Today.
The legendary batter further said that Vihari is the other option India should look at as the potential replacement of Pujara.
“Otherwise, you can look at Hanuma Vihari, who has done well in South Africa and showed a lot of courage,” he added.
