KL Rahul replaced injured Virat Kohli as India's captain for the 2nd Test against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. The Karnataka batsman was handed the captaincy after regular skipper Virat Kohli was ruled out of the match owing to an upper back spasm. Rahul, who has also been named captain for the three-match ODI series, has become the 34th captain to lead India in the longest version of the game. Rahul's ascension to captaincy proved lucky for India as he won the toss and decided to bat first.Rahul is also the 4th India Test captain from Karnataka after Gundappa Viswanath, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.
Rahul on Monday also joined former India skippers Mohammad Azharuddin and Sunil Gavaskar in a unique list of captain., Rahul became the first Indian skipper since Azharuddin in 1990 to lead the Indian team in a Test match ahead of his debut appearance as a captain in the limited-overs game. Some of the other captains include Gavaskar, BS Bedi, Ajit Wadekar and few others. "It is every Indian player's dream to captain his country. Really honoured and looking forward to this challenge. We have had a few good wins here and hopefully we'll look to continue that," Rahul said after winning the toss and opting to bat first at the Wanderers.Rahul will later lead the Indian team in the three-match ODI series against South Africa which will begin from January 19 at Paarl. He was named the captain after Rohit failed to recover from his hamstring injury he incurred during the home Test series against New Zealand in November.
