South Africa vs India 2018: Why Wriddhiman Saha is not playing the second Test

In a bid to claw their way back into the series, the Indian team made a few changes to their side from the one they fielded in the first Test.

One of the biggest change, a forced one, was that of the wicketkeeper: Parthiv Patel, traveling with the team as their backup stumper, replaced Wriddhiman Saha in the playing XI.

Patel will play his 24th Test in a career spread over 15 and a half years.

It was confirmed that Wriddhiman Saha has been suffering from a hamstring niggle and will not be available for selection.

"Saha is suffering from a hammy (hamstring) niggle. Can't risk it over five days of a Test", Kohli said at the toss.

In the pre-match training yesterday, Saha was seen waiting on the sidelines, even as Parthiv Patel underwent an intense training session.

Saha was a dud with the bat in the first Test, scoring 0 and 8 at Cape Town. He, however, broke MS Dhoni's record for the most dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper in a Test.

In his last game for India, Parthiv Patel scored 71, combining with KL Rahul to stitch a 152-run partnership against England at Chennai. India had won the match by an innings and 75 runs.

Interestingly, Patel's last match outside India was way back in 2004, when, as an 18-year-old, he played in Steve Waugh's last game. None of the current Team India players had even made their first-class debut then.

The side also made two more changes: KL Rahul gets to play ahead of Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, and Ishant Sharma replaces Bhuvneshwar Kumar 'for some extra bounce', as Kohli said at the toss.