Anil Kumble feels India is missing this star amid Kohli’s failure at number 3 in the first innings

On Day 2 of the 1st Test against New Zealand, Team India suffered another batting collapse as they were all out for a miserable total of 46 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Matt Henry had a five-wicket haul while William O’Rourke took four as the Indian side posted its lowest Test score ever in home conditions. The decision to bat first by Rohit Sharma backfired badly as four of the top seven batters of India managed to score zero runs including the star batter Virat Kohli who was out of the crease after facing just nine balls.

With Shubman Gill ruled out of the match due to back stiffness, Kohli walked in at no. 3 while Sarfaraz Khan occupied No. 4.

After the collapse of India, the former skipper Anil Kumble opined that it was rather a bad decision to promote Kohli down the order. The spin wizard however stated that India lacked a strong player in that role who would have been ideally suited to the task of dealing with the new ball, such as a Cheteshwar Pujara.

“I think there was some back up because of the number 4 position, which is your number one batter Virat Kohli. I think you require someone like Cheteshwar Pujara for the number three position who played really well in that position for many many years. 100 Test matches because he would have been there today then I do not think that he would have been looking to go and hit the ball,” said Kumble on Jio Cinema.

Kumble was also harsh on the Indian batters stating that they were attempting to play everyball.

“So he would let the ball come and that is where you miss someone like (Pujara). This kind of approach today. And India is surely in a spot of bother at this stage,” he further said.

In other developments, New Zealand managed to gain a lead of 134 runs on Day 2 of the match after the first day was washed out due to rain.

Day of the second Test match saw New Zeland wicket-keeper batsman Devon Conway scoring 91 runs before being bowled while trying to play reverse sweep to Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

New Zealand were 180-3 when light stopped play in an extended session with Rachin Ravindra on 22 and Daryl Mitchell on 14.