KL Rahul at No 3, Virat Kohli at No 4 in 1st ODI Between India-Australia in Mumbai; Fans Criticise Move | POSTS

Of Kohli's 43 ODI hundreds, 36 have come from this slot. Only former Australian captain Ricky Ponting and former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara have more runs at this slot.

On Tuesday, Australia won the toss and put hosts India into bat first in Mumbai during the first ODI. The Men in Blue lost their opener, Rohit Sharma, early in the piece for 10 runs off 15 balls when he was looking to go aerial against Mitchell Starc. After that, skipper Virat Kohli was expected to come in next but that did not happen as in-form KL Rahul got promoted up the order. The move did not go down well with the fans as they felt Kohli is best suited at the No 3 slot. This move prompted fans to take to social media and slam the move.

Here is how they reacted:

Virat Kohli’s biggest strength is strike rotation. No. 3 should not be changed.#INDvAUS #INDvsAUS

Awarapan 🇮🇳 (@KingSlayer_05) January 14, 2020

Don’t agree with @imVkohli at 4.

For the sake of accomodating 3 openers world’s best no.3 can’t be shifted at 4. #INDvsAUS

Shubham Gupta (@shubham_136) January 14, 2020

,

No matter how many runs @klrahul11 score today,@imVkohli should bat at No.3.The best No.3 in the world.#INDvsAUS @cricketaakash @vikrantgupta73 @bhogleharsha @

Sunil Kumar Raut (@imsunilraut) January 14, 2020

#INDvsAUS dear @imVkohli one requst to u plz bat at no 3 position….No 4 is neither sustainable for U nor for the team in long run….Also shreyas iyer is also suited for No 4

Nocturnal (@Nocturn97096720) January 14, 2020

IAM not going to watch cricket if virat Kohli won’t bat at no.3 @bcci #INDvAUS 🤬🤬

Raviteja patel (@Ravispeaks39) January 14, 2020

Sir I am a huge fan your.sir please come to batting position at no.3 i am watching only for your batting humbled request hai sir aapse

Khan Shamsuddin (@KhanSha61263933) January 14, 2020

In 180 innings, Kohli has amassed Kohli’s 9,509 runs at No 3 at a staggering average of 63.39. Of Kohli’s 43 ODI hundreds, 36 have come from this slot. Only former Australian captain Ricky Ponting and former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara have more runs at this slot.

At the time of filing the copy, India was 126 for one after 25 overs with Shikhar Dhawan (70) and KL Rahul (42) in the middle.