"Kohli ko Test se bhi bahar kar diya kya?" - Fans react after injured Virat Kohli misses second Test vs South Africa
A back spasm has forced India captain Virat Kohli to miss the second Test against South Africa that began in Johannesburg on Monday.
Stand-in captain KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bat on a typical Wanderers pitch that has traditionally been quick and bouncy.
Team India stuck to the same bowling combination that proved successful in the first Test. The home team made two changes - Kyle Verreynne and Duanne Olivier replaced Quinton de Kock and Wiaan Mulder.
India playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
South Africa playing XI: Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi
Many fans were disappointed to see Kohli, who was recently replaced as ODI skipper, sit out the first Test of the new year and took to Twitter to express the same.
Here are some of the fan reactions:
Kohli ko test se bhi bahar kar diya kya ???? #ViratKohli
#INDvSA
Looks a planned rest to play 100th test here in India 😅
#ViratKohli #SAvIND
If India win the 2nd Test at Johannesburg — and there are no strong reasons why they cannot — their regular Test captain #ViratKohli will miss once-in-a-generation overseas series win in South Africa, having gone through a similar fate in 2020-21 in Australia. #INDvsSA #SAvIND
Injury concerns for indian🇮🇳 cricket 😕. Koi na koi injured ho hi raha hai. #INDvsSA #testcricket #ViratKohli #RohitSharma #KLRahul
Partying hard on New year Eve resulted in Kohli missing 2nd test.
#INDvSA
#SAvIND
@RVCJ_FB Virat kohli https://t.co/qSvAQkmtzW
Captaincy fight between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma exists.
KL Rahul in between be like :-
#KLRahul #ViratKohli #INDvsSA #RahulDravid https://t.co/SxT4Hj0Pce
@cricbuzz Virat Kohli not to play the match due to back spasm: KL Rahul
Virat kohli: https://t.co/636DN4pAvx
Nushkie stopping Virat Kohli From Playing https://t.co/4k5P3Dyw3r
Injured in just 17 hrs ? 🤔#ViratKohli #SAvsInd #INDvsSA twitter.com/imvkohli/statu…
KL Rahul to lead India in the 2nd Test match. Virat fans : https://t.co/G35blR8P9q
If you're a Virat Kohli fan, you must think life from past 2 years is Pain..... twitter.com/bhogleharsha/s… https://t.co/QLrBi1QIaV
Hanuma Vihari gets his chance finally. Not the way we would have wanted him to as India will miss Virat Kohli's zeal and energy in the field. But I hope Vihari makes this opportunity count, so that he can be one of the first names in the Test team going forward. #SAvIND
उसे मुकम्मल कर भी आओ
वो जो अधूरी सी बात बाकी है
Good luck Team India 👊🏼🇮🇳 #SAvIND
"Really honoured and looking forward to this challenge" - KL Rahul on captaining India in Test cricket
Rahul said it was an honor and pleasure to lead India in Test cricket. Speaking at the toss, Rahul revealed that a back spasm forced Kohli to miss the game.
“Unfortunately Virat has had an upper back spasm, and hopefully he'll recover for the next Test. It is every Indian player's dream to captain his country. I am really honoured and looking forward to this challenge,” Rahul said.
After a resounding win in the first Test at Centurion, India are eyeing their maiden Test series win on South African soil.