Virat Kohli has revealed that Rishabh Pant was not supposed to bat at No. 4 - it was to be Shreyas Iyer - in the third T20I against South Africa in Bengaluru, reports cricinfo.
The India captain admitted to a "miscommunication" between Pant and Iyer, explaining that the latter was slated to walk in if India were two down within the tenth over. As it turned out, India were 63 for 2 in the eighth over. However, Pant walked in ahead of Iyer, and Kohli put it down to a communication breakdown in the dugout.
"I think there was a miscommunication there," Kohli said. "That's what I understood afterwards. The batting coach [Vikram Rathour] had a word with both of them and there was a misunderstanding of who has to go at what stage of the game. So, it was a bit funny afterwards because they both wanted to walk in. It would have been very funny if both had reached the pitch... three batsmen in the field. Yeah, I think it was a miscommunication in the middle.
"We had it planned according to phases. So, after ten overs, we decided Rishabh would walk in. Before that Shreyas had to walk in. So, I think both of them got confused and didn't realise who
had to walk in at what stage
of the game."
