Virender Sehwag is absolutely furious with Virat Kohli, as the legendary opener wants Kohli to drop himself for the next test match.
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Virat Kohli surprised everyone when he decided to drop Ajinkya Rahane and pick both Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya for the test match against South Africa.
India easily lost the first test, and could not afford slip up again in the second test match Centurion. All those who expected Kohli to be a little conservative for second test were in for a shock, as the India made three big changes to the line-up today.
KL Rahul, Ishant Sharma and Parthiv Patel all came in to the side, as Dhawan, Bhuvneshar and Saha made way. Not only did Rahane not make it into the side, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India’s best bowler in Cape Town, also found himself out of the side.
WATCH : Pandya runs out Amla after a super human effort!
The hosts started off well, as India were immensely frustrated by the South African openers.
Ashwin eventually gave his captain the breakthrough, as the wily spinner dismissed both the openers in quick succession.
Markram and Amla were the stars for South Africa today, as the two batsmen threatened to take the game away from India. After a scratchy start, Amla started to find some form, as the great South African got into his stride.
But Pandya ran Amla out after a super human effort, as he swiveled and hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end all in one motion. Ashwin then picked up another wicket, as he snapped up Quinton de Kock for a golden duck.
While India did pull the game back, Sehwag was still not impressed by Virat Kohli’s decisions.
“Watching Virat Kohli excluding Shikhar Dhawan for just one Test failure, and Bhuvneshwar for no reason at all, Kohli should drop himself in the third Test at Centurion, if he fails to perform in Centurion,” Sehwag told ‘India TV’.
“Excluding Bhuvneshwar wasn’t the right decision. Citing that Ishant might benefit with his height, Virat Kohli has hurt Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s self-confidence.
“They could have played Ishant in place of any other bowler. Bhuvneshwar performed well in Cape Town and excluding him like this isn’t justified,” Sehwag added.
Let’s hope Kohli scores well and silences his critics!