IND vs NZ: Who will bat at three in absence of unwell Shubman Gill, Saba Karim reveals

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IND vs NZ: Shubman Gill was ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru due to a stiffness in neck as Sarfaraz Khan was brought in place of him in the India playing eleven.

In the absence of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul would be batting at three for India, Saba Karim revealed while talking to broadcasters Sports18 Network. Rishabh Pant is expected to bat five ahead of Sarfaraz Khan at six.

Gill has been India's designated number three batter, a decision he took as Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Indian Test team last year. He started off his career as an opener before expressing his desire to bat at three.

Who will bat at No.3 in absence of Shubman Gill? Gavaskar responds

Commentator Harsha Bhogle asked Sunil Gavaskar for his view onIndia's number three in Bengaluru in the absence of Shubman Gill.

The former India opener reckoned that KL Rahul can walk in if a wicket falls early. Explaining his decision, Gavaskar said that KL Rahul has the experience of opening.

He also added that Virat Kohli might walk in at three in case there is a good partnership between Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the opening wicket. Gavaskar said Kohli would want to bat at his regular number four position.

KL Rahul batted at number six in all three innings of his last Test series against Bangladesh. The Karnataka batter has batted four times at number three in Test cricket and scored 88 runs at an average of 17.60.

Update: Virat Kohli walked out to bat after Tim Southee clean bowled Rohit Sharma in the seventh over.