India’s red ball skipper Virat Kohli is ruled out of the 2nd test at Wanderers. The news came out just before the start of the day’s play.
KL Rahul is named as the captain of team India for the 2nd test match against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Rahul confirmed at the time of the toss that the 32-year-old will miss the 2nd test but will probably be available for the final test.
Middle order batsmen Hanuma Vihari has replaced Kohli in the playing XI.
Rahul informed during the toss that Virat Kohli has ‘Upper Back Spasms’ and is not fully fit to play the second test. Kohli is being currently monitored by the physios in Johannesburg.
“Virat is having an upper back spasm. The physios are working on him and hopefully he will recover in time for the next Test,” Rahul said at the toss when asked about Kohli’s absence from the match.
Earlier this week, Rahul was named as the skipper of team India in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa as full-time skipper Rohit Sharma has not regained full fitness.
Since the start of 2020, Virat Kohli has failed to get back into form. He has only managed to score 652 runs in 14 innings at an average of 26.08. The 32-year-old is yet to score a ton since the start of 2020.
However, his record at the Wanderers Stadium has been quite impressive. Kohli has smashed 310 runs including a hundred and two centuries. India on the other hand have never lost a test match at this venue.
Team India are currently leading the three match test series by 1-0. India won comprehensively by 113 runs at Centurion. The Men in Blue will be hoping to continue the same form and win the test series. This could be the first Indian team to win a test series at South Africa.