Surprisingly, Rishabh Pant was promoted to No. 4 ahead of Virat Kohli on the fourth day of the 1st Test between India and Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Some fans were shocked to see Pant walking out to bat after Yashasvi Jasiwal got out. Kohli was fully padded with his helmet but was asked to wait. They called the move a disrespect to Virat Kohli, who has been India’s No. 4 batsman for a decade.

The decision could have been made to retain the right-handed and left-handed combination with Shubman Gill on the field. Gill previously batted with Yashasvi Jaiswal and the right-hander and left-hander combination shared a 72-run stand off just 63 balls, dominating the Bangladesh bowlers. The decision to send Pant in place of Kohli could have been to maintain the momentum but 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.

This is how fans reacted to X

After bowling out Bangladesh for 233, India started on a ballistic note with a 55-run stand between openers Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma within the first four overs. This was India’s highest powerplay total across all formats. After two days of no play due to rain and a wet outfield, India wasted no time in getting going.

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