In a shocking development, Indian captain Virat Kohli was ruled out of the second Test match against South Africa, slated to begin on January 3, 2022, at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This meant that stand-in vice-captain KL Rahul came out for the toss along with Proteas skipper Dean Elgar.

KL Rahul was made vice-captain after original choice Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the Test series in South Africa due to his hamstring injury. This is the first time KL Rahul is leading the Indian team in an official capacity and he will captain the Men in Blue in the ODI series that follows the Test series.

Rahul won the toss and decided to bat first and during the conversation with the commentators, revealed that Virat Kohli was not playing due to an upper back spasm and hoped that he will be ready for the third Test match in Cape Town.

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Rahul also said that Hanuma Vihari will replace Virat Kohli in the playing XI, and that was the only change for the visitors who lead the 3-Test series 1-0.

Rahul said: "Unfortunately Virat has had an upper back spasm and hopefully he'll recover for the next Test. It is every Indian player's dream to captain his country. Really honored and looking forward to this challenge. We have had a few good wins here and hopefully we'll look to continue that. Hanuma Vihari comes in place of Virat. Just the one change. It was a good Test at Centurion overall. We really performed well as a team and are really excited about this match.”

On the other hand, Dean Elgar revealed that Kyle Verreynne replaced the now retired Quinton de Kock and Duanne Olivier replaced Wiaan Mulder, making his South Africa return after three years.  

(Cricbuzz inputs)