This morning, KL Rahul walked in the middle for the Toss which raised everyone’s eyebrows. Fans started asking questions on social media that “Is Virat Kohli alright? Why is Virat Kohli not playing today? Or is he playing under KL Rahul?”. However, all the fans got their answer once the stand-in skipper KL Rahul interacted during the toss.
Here’s why Virat Kohli is not playing today
The Mangaluru-born batsman revealed that Virat Kohli is going to miss the 2nd Test due to an upper back spasm. This means the skipper is not fully fit to take the field and was also seen working with the physio ahead of the toss but that couldn’t make him match-ready. “Unfortunately, Virat has had an upper back spasm, hopefully he will be recover for the next test”, said KL Rahul after winning the toss.
Hanuma Vihari replaced India’s most experienced active batsman for the ongoing test in Johannesburg. Also, this is KL Rahul’s first outing as India skipper. He was named ODI skipper few days ago but no one had an idea that he would be leading India in the Tests before the ODIs.
Virat also misses the pre-match PC, Rahul Dravid explailns
The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has not interacted with the media ever since his revelations about his removal as the captain. Now, Rahul Dravid tells Media when Kohli will talk to the media. The last time Virat Kohli interacted to the media, he made shocking comments on the whole captaincy episode. The star-batsman and India’s full-time skipper was removed from the ODI captaincy and Kohli claimed that things were not discussed with him beforehand. Ever since that interaction, media has not gotten the chance to talk to Kohli and Rahul Dravid tells media why Kohli is not attending press conferences.
Virat Kohli has played 98 Test matches so far and is approaching the century. The Indian head coach Rahul Dravid tells media that Virat Kohli will be attending the press conference before his 100th Test (99th as he missed 2nd test) for sure. Talking to the media, Dravid said, “There is no specific reason for that. I don’t decide this but I am told he will be speaking on the eve of his 100th Test and we hope you celebrate that. And you can ask him questions about his 100th Test.”
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The fans have been waiting for a century by Kohli as the batsman has not scored a hundred in two years. After winning the first Test match, team India will look to seal the deal in Johannesburg and move on to the third Test with an unassailable lead. Dravid in the press conference also shared that batting first would be helpful for the team and batting in the fourth inning would be difficult.
Dravid also praised the Indian skipper for his enthusiasm and for keeping the spirits of the team high. “In keeping the morale high in South Africa it has not been difficult as it has been led by the skipper himself. Virat Kohli has been phenomenal over the last 20 days, the way he has trained he has practised,” added Dravid.