Coming into the second Test match, cricket fans all around the world felt that Virat Kohli had to ring in some changes, as India needed to be pro active in order to make a comeback into the series.
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Ajinkya Rahane was one name that was spoken about a lot, as the middle order needed to be strengthened, and India desperately needed its overseas specialist to face the music of the South African bowlers.
But Virat Kohli wanted to give Rohit Sharma another go, and could not drop Ashwin(keeping the brown pitch in mind) and thus had to leave out Ajinkya Rahane.
India decided to stick to their four seamer strategy, with Hardik Pandya slotting in as the seaming all-rounder, but Bhuvi was left out, leaving cricket fans all around the globe bemused.
At the toss, Virat Kohli said that Ishant Sharma was replacing Bhuvi because of the bounce that the former would be able to extract from the Centurion track.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar took 8 wickets in the previous match, bowling that magical spell in the first innings and contributing decently well with the bat as well. With Bhuvi having upped his pace and infused more variations into his bowling, dropping him seemed like Virat Kohli’s biggest blunder today
Twitter wasn’t at all impressed with Virat Kohli’s apparent ‘horses for courses’ plan and vented out their anger in a very sarcastic as well as humourous way.
Check out the best tweets:
Bhuvi’s form comes with ‘conditions apply’. Since the pitch is expected to offer more bounce than lateral movement…therefore, Ishant plays. #SAvsIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 13, 2018
Solve this riddle:
Rohit Sharma selected based on recent performance!
Saha & Bhuvi dropped despite having good recent performance!
Rahane dropped based on recent performance!
— Broken Pundit (@Brokenpundit) January 13, 2018
Bhuvneshwar Kumar dropped, means Jasprit Bumrah takes the new ball. Not only was Bhuvi India's best bowler in Cape Town, he also lasted longer at the crease than ANYONE else: 127 balls: #SAvIND
— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) January 13, 2018
Bhuvi not in the team?!!!😳 My office is open for explanations.
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) January 13, 2018
Bowling average & 5-wkt hauls for India pacers in overseas Tests since June 2014:
Shami – 32.48 & 1 5-for
Ishant – 31.90 & 2 5-fors
Umesh – 43.51 & 0 5-forsBhuvi – 26.65 & 3 5-fors
Shami and Ishant have played 15 Tests each. Umesh 11.
Bhuvi has played only 9 Tests. #SAvInd
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) January 13, 2018
Kohli: You were awesome in the last match.
Bhuvi: It’s not about just me. There’s no I in team.
Kohli: Amazing. There’s no U also in team. #INDvSA
— Shridhar V (@iimcomic) January 13, 2018
If Kohli was SA’s skipper, he would’ve dropped Philander for this Test. #Bhuvi #SAvIND
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) January 13, 2018
Unconfirmed reports that Bhuvi failed to lift 470 kg in gym last night. Captain Fitness & team management couldn't take the risk in case of a rhino attack on the field. Sensible.
— Aayush (@slicesofIife) January 13, 2018
Virat replaced Dhawan with KL Rahul : Wow now India will score 30-40 runs more this time.
Virat replaced Bhuvi with Ishant : Shit now India will need to score 100-200 runs more this time. #INDvsSA
— Justice Smoking Skills (@SmokingSkills_) January 13, 2018
Always pleased if Ishant does well, but completely bemused Bhuvi dropped. If conditions are so crucial, presumably Kohli will drop himself for the England tour.
— Pavilion Opinions (@pavilionopinion) January 13, 2018
While everyone is surprised with Rahane's and Bhuvi's exclusion, Sunil Gavaskar is surprised that Shikhar Dhawan has been left out.
— Abhishek (@Sajjanlaunda) January 13, 2018
I think Bhuvi bowled and batted better than expectations. He had to be taught a lesson https://t.co/1riplu9hXJ
— Hemant (@hemantbuch) January 13, 2018
Three wrong answers from Virat Kohli today –
1. Rohit or Rahane? Rohit. ✘
2. Ishant or Bhuvi? Ishant. ✘
3. Heads or Tails. Heads. ✘— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) January 13, 2018
The face of Bhuvi saying it all. That's really hurting lots of Indian fans! #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/w0xQD6YVRU
— ANIMESH (@animesh452) January 13, 2018
Bhuvi needs to improve. He needs to click more selfies and get tattoos if he wants to be in the Indian squad. #SAvIND
— Jessy Rajkumari (@RajkumariJessy) January 13, 2018
Pick up top 3 wickets in first 3 overs and end up with 6 wickets in the test. Share a crucial 100 run stand in context of the game. My name is Bhuvi
You are not in form. My name is Kohli. Benched #IndVSA
— Karthik Ramasamy (@yakarthik) January 13, 2018
The only selection that most of India agreed with was that of KL Rahul for Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan, who has had often struggled in overseas conditions.
India went wicketless in the first session but picked up Dean Elgar early on after tea, with Murali Vijay picking up a sensational reflex catch of Ashwin’s bowling!
