India's stand-in skipper KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bat first in the second Test of the three-match series against South Africa here at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on Monday.
Speaking about the toss, Rahul said, "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. Really honoured and looking forward to this challenge. 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."
On the other hand, Proteas skipper Dean Elgar said, (On Kohli missing out) "It doesn't really bother me, we have got a Test match to play. Two changes: Kyle Verryenne comes in for QdK and Duanne Olivier for Mulder. Losing Quinny is never ideal. He has been a big player for us. We have a lot of talent in our squad and we need to back him. There were a lot of good things you can speak about at Centurion. You need to be fair to the environment. a lot of positives and good conversations for us to take out of that."
Wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne will be in the Playing XI after Quinton De Kock announced his sudden retirement from Test cricket after the first game in Centurion.
India have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series after defeating Proteas by 113 runs in the first game.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul(c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor