Team India’s Test captain, Virat Kohli, has been forced out of the 2nd Test versus South Africa owing to an upper back spasm. KL Rahul, India’s stand-in captain for the match at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, made the announcement at the toss on Monday. Here is Why Kohli Is Not Playing SA’s 2nd Test.
Why Kohli Is Not Playing SA’s 2nd Test
The 33-year-old Kohli is presently under medical supervision and will battle against the clock to recover quickly for the 3rd Test, which begins on January 11 at Newlands in Cape Town. Meanwhile, the visitors have signed Hanuma Vihari as Kohli’s substitute.
Vihari has just not featured a Test after India won the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21. Early in the 2nd Test, Rahul voiced his pleasure for being able to lead the squad at the top level, as well as the players’ optimistic attitude of mind following the Centurion victory.
Hanuma Vihari comes in place of Virat Kohli
“Unfortunately, Virat has had an upper back spasm, the physios are working on him and hopefully he’ll recover for the next Test. It is every Indian player’s dream to captain his country. Really honored and looking forward to this challenge,” said Rahul.
“We have had a few good wins here and hopefully we’ll look to continue that. Hanuma Vihari comes in place of Virat. Just the one change. It was a good Test at Centurion overall. We really performed well as a team and are really excited about this match,” he added.
South Africa captain, Dean Elgar seemed unconcerned with Kohli’s absence from the match. “Doesn’t really bother me [who is the captain],” Elgar said. Elgar stated. The hosts have made 2 adjustments for the match in an attempt to recover from their 113-run defeat at SuperSport Park.
While Duanne Olivier has substituted with Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verryenne has been called up to replace Quinton de Kock, who confirmed his retirement from Test cricket recently. Elgar also agreed that SA will miss De Kock’s services.
“Losing Quinny is never ideal. He has been a big player for us. Losing any big player is never ideal. But we need to move on. We have a lot of talent in our squad and we need to back them,” Elgar added.
