Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh): In a surprise move, India’s wicket-keeper-batter Rishabh Pant was promoted to No. 4 ahead of Virat Kohli on the fourth day of the second Test between India and Bangladesh on Monday, September 30, 2024, at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.

However, this move reignited the debate over the southpaw’s promotion in the batting order as a certain section of fans were shocked to see Pant walking out to bat after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed. Kohli was fully padded with his helmet but was asked to wait. They termed the move as disrespectful to Virat Kohli, who has been India’s No. 4 batsman for a decade since India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar retired from international cricket.

The cricket experts believe that the decision must have been taken to keep the right-hander and left-hander combination in the middle and leave the right-handed batsman Shubman Gill at the crease. Gill earlier batted with southpaw Jaiswal, with whom he shared a 72-run stand off just 63 balls, to dominate the visitors. The decision to send Pant in place of Kohli could have been to maintain the momentum but it did not go down well with a certain section of fans. Interestingly, this was only the 26th time in Kohli’s illustrious Test career that he was bowled out at fifth.

However, soon after Jaiswal’s wicket, Gill also lost his wicket and Kohli walked out to bat at number five. He scored 47 runs in his first innings, setting another record: he became the fastest player to score 27,000 runs in international cricket, breaking the 17-year-old record set by former Indian captain and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.

During India’s first innings, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were involved in a terrible mix-up that could have led to Kohli’s exit. On the first ball of the 19th over, Kohli could have easily been thrown out of the game but he made contact with the green which came his way. Kohli tapped on a slower shot from pacer Khaled Ahmed and claimed a single. Pant, who was in the non-striker’s side, initially responded but then refused to take a single and send Kohli back.

In the meantime, all Khaled had to do was collect the ball and take the balls off. But instead he made a meal of it and missed the stumps as he tried to throw it away. Kohli initially looked unhappy, but then he and Pant hugged.