Hanuma Vihari looked impressive in the middle after Ajinkya Rahane fell for a first-ball duck and managed put on 42 runs for the fourth wicket with stand-in captain KL Rahul.
Team India batter Hanuma Vihari returned to the Test arena after a gap of more than one year. Vihari replaced an injured Virat Kohli in the playing XI for the second Test against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Monday (January 3).
Vihari looked impressive in the middle after Ajinkya Rahane fell for a first-ball duck and managed put on 42 runs for the fourth wicket with stand-in captain KL Rahul. However, in the 39th over of the innings, Vihari fell to a brilliant catch by Rassie van der Dussen off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada for a dogged 20 off 53 balls.
Van der Dussen caught a blinder which even startled Vihari. Vihari started walking towards the pavilion when the replay shown on the big screen displayed that Rabada’s front foot was possibly touching the line.
Fans called Vihari unfortunate as the delivery which dismissed him was a no-ball, but neither on-field umpires nor the third umpire noticed it. Umpires are getting trolled over social media for the same reason.
Meanwhile, former India pacer Irfan Pathan reacted to Kohli’s absence from the team, writing on Twitter, “Regardless of current form, Kohli not playing is a huge boost for South Africa not just as a player but the aggressive leader!”
Kohli, who has been struggling a prolonged lean patch with the bat, will thus not be able to complete his landmark 100th Test in the series’ third and final match at Cape Town.
“Back spasm rules out Captain Kohli from the 2nd Test. Drop a (Heart Emoji) to wish King a speedy recovery! Hope to see you on the field for the 3rd Test Skip!” Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore wrote on Twitter.
“Virat Kohli has an upper back spasm. Legit injury considering all the backstabbing @BCCI`s done to him. #SAvIND,” tweeted a fan.
Another fan compared Virat’s incident with footballer Mesut Ozil when German was dropped from the Arsenal side. “Virat Kohli has back spasm, this reminds of Ozil being dropped from Arsenal due to the same reason..don’t know what’s the truth but Kohli should make utmost use of this break and focus more on his batting..we need Kohli the batter back ..#SAvIND.”
(with IANS inputs)
News Sources – Zee News India
