India spring surprise as Virat Kohli misses 2nd Test, SA bowl first with Olivier picked | Sport

Virat Kohli of India (L) and Dean Elgar (R) of the Proteas. (Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

India sprung a surprise on the morning of the second Test against South Africa at the Wanderers when Test captain Virat Kohli was excluded from their first XI with a back spasm.

India won the toss and decided to bat first.

LIVE | Proteas v India – 2nd Test, Day 1

First Test centurion KL Rahul captained the team in Kohli’s absence as right hand bat Hanuma Vihari slots into their top order.

As expected, the Proteas selected WP wicketkeeper batsman Kyle Verreynne in Quinton de Kock’s place while seamer Duanne Olivier replaced all-rounder Wiaan Mulder in the only other change to the hosts’ line-up.

South Africa is looking to bounce back to level the series and avoid a first-ever Test series defeat to India after losing the opener by 113 runs in Centurion.

Weather forecasts predict afternoon highveld thunderstorms, which should impact proceedings in Johannesburg.

The Proteas beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets the last time they played at the Wanderers, wherein Dean Elgar’s 127 helped SA to a match-winning 302 first innings score.

The hosts would do well to scale those peaks again after failing to reach 200 in both their innings at SuperSport Park last week.

Teams:

South Africa

Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Duanne Olivier, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

India 

KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ajinkya Rahanei, Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj