On the eve of the second Test at the Wanderers, it was confirmed that Kohli is battling with a back injury, with KL Rahul taking over the captaincy. “Unfortunately it’s an upper back spasm for Virat, but hopefully he will recover for the next Test,” Rahul said at the toss, which India won as they chose to bat first. All but one of the last six Wanderers Tests have been won by the team batting first – South Africa’s 10-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka in 2020/21 was the only exception. The average first innings score across the last 10 Wanderers Tests is 303 (336 when batting first and winning). Spin bowlers have taken just 13 wickets in the last six Wanderers Tests, with an average of 56.23 and strike rate of 74.38.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 03, 2022 19:46 UTC