BAN vs IND: 'He was sent to...' - Pujara on why Axar Patel was promoted ahead of Virat Kohli in 2nd Test

India's No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara revealed the reason behindteam management's plan to promote Axar Patel ahead of Virat Kohli in the batting order during their nervy 145-run chase versus Bangladesh in the just-concluded second and final Test in Dhaka. With India being reduced to 12 for 2 in the final session on Day 3, many expected Kohli to walk out at his usual batting slot; i.e. No. 4.

Nonetheless, the Rahul Dravid-led team management surprised one and all and sent out Axar. Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian opener-turned-commentator, wasn't impressed with the move and told on Sony Sports, "It didn't send a good message to Kohli. He is the best batsman in the world. Unless Kohli himself asked for it, then it's a different matter. We don't know what happened in the changing room. But it's hard to understand. Axar has played well, of course."

Jadeja,part of the Hindi panel, opined, "He is the world's best player. 15 overs were left. Saba Karim said it could have been because of the left-right combination, which is an obvious thought, but then I feel - did Rishabh Pant take a sleeping pill? I will also say that it is easy for us to say this from here; we don't know if someone was not feeling well."

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Pujara, who wonthe Player-of-the-Series award, opened up on the move after the series triumph. Talking to the broadcasters, he gave an insight behind Axar's promotion and said, "It was a very good move because among their three strike bowlers, two were left-arm spinners. Axar is a left-hander, so he was sent to tackle them and to have a batter who can bat sensibly in the initial period against the Kookaburra ball. It was a crucial move for us. That was an important phase of the game where we didn't want to lose too many wickets in the evening, and he could have batted cautiously. So I was not surprised. When you are chasing a 145-run total, every run is important, and the way he batted, his innings was very valuable for us."

The left-handed Axar played a cautious 69-ball 34 whereas Kohli departed for 1 during India's three-wicket win over the Bangla Tigers. Shreyas Iyer's 29 not out and R Ashwin's 62-ball 42* held their nerves and took India home after they were reeling at 74-7 in the morning session of Day 4.