What happened to Virat Kohli: KL Rahul discloses if Virat Kohli will play IND vs SA Cape Town Test or not

Virat Kohli Injury Update: The stand-in Indian captain talked about the regular captain’s injury in the post-match presentation ceremony.

India stand-in Test captain Lokesh Rahul believes that South Africa deserved to win the second Test match in Johannesburg despite his team having a “good chance”.

Once play resumed after a two-session wash out due to rain, South Africa needed 122 runs to win the match with eight wickets in hands. Surely ahead in the game, the hosts lost a solitary wicket of Rassie van der Dussen (40) to score the required number of runs in just 27.4 overs.

“Every Test match we play, we want to win, we go out there and compete hard but South Africa played really well and deserved this victory,” Rahul told SuperSport during the post-match presentation ceremony. “We were looking to get on the field today, try and do something special, 122 to get, the pitch was playing up and down, we had a good chance, but their batters played really well.”

Seen a few over time, but that is One of SA crickets greatest test wins! #INDvsSA #Proteas

— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) January 6, 2022

Rahul, who won the toss and chose to bat in his first international match as captain, pointed out how his batters should have scored more than 202 in the first innings.

“If I want to be harsh, the first innings total of 202 was at least 50-60 runs short. We should have scored more and put them under pressure,” Rahul said.

Will Virat Kohli play IND vs SA Cape Town Test?

Labeling him as “superb”, Rahul hailed all-rounder Shardul Thakur for picking career-best bowling figures of 17.5-3-61-7 in the first innings. Rahul, who himself scored a half-century on Day 1, spoke highly of other Indian half-centurions in senior batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

“Shardul [Thakur] has been superb for us. Has won us a lot of games. He bowled well in the first innings and gave us a chance today as well. They [Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane] have been great players for us. Have always done the job for us over the years.

“Have been under the pump recently but we believe Pujara and Rahane are our best middle-order players, to go out there, bat in that mindset and play such an innings. It’ll give them confidence and make them do even better in the next Test,” Rahul mentioned.

Rahul, who got an opportunity to lead due to regular captain Virat Kohli’s injury, was hopeful of him returning for the third Test beginning in Cape Town from January 11. “Virat [Kohli] is feeling better already, been in the nets the last couple of days fielding and running around and I think he should be fine,” Rahul added.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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