Virat Kohli would have been playing his 99th Test game against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg if he had not suffered a back injury. KL Rahul, the vice-captain of the Test team, was seen at the toss – which he won and opted to bat first.
However, while announcing who would be replacing Kohli in the playing XI, all expected it to be Shreyas Iyer, but it was Hanuma Vihari who got picked. While the middle-order batter was sent with India ‘A’ team to South Africa even before the Test series had begun and had played a few good knocks, Iyer, on the other hand, had also impressed in his debut series but could not find a place in the playing XI.
With many wanting to know the reason for Iyer not being part of the playing squad, BCCI had stated that he was kept out due to a stomach bug.
“Team India captain Mr. Virat Kohli had a spasm on his upper back this morning. He won’t feature in the second Test against South Africa at The Wanderers. The BCCI medical team will be monitoring him during the course of this Test match.”
“KL Rahul will captain the side in his absence. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Jasprit Bumrah as vice-captain for the 2nd Test. Team India batsman Shreyas Iyer was also ruled out of selection for the 2nd Test owing to a stomach bug,” the statement from BCCI read.
Apart from Kohli, Team India made no other changes and decided to stick with the same bowling unit.
India’s playing XI for 2nd Test:
KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
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