Unhappy with India captain Virat Kohli's bold selection for the underway Centurion Test, in which he excluded wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to make space for Parthiv Patel and Ishant Sharma respectively, former India opener Virender Sehwag asked the Indian skipper to drop himself if he fails to perform in Centurion.
"Watching Virat Kohli exclude Shikhar Dhawan for just one Test failure, and Bhuvneshwar for no reason at all, Kohli should drop himself in the third Test at Johannesburg, if he fails to perform in Centurion," Sehwag, who is India TV's cricket expert, said on the show 'Cricket Ki Baat'.
After losing the first Test by 72 runs, Kohli made three changes in the playing XI for the second Test, started in Centurion on Saturday. Seamer Bhuvneshwar was surprisingly replaced by Ishant, while opener Rahul was selected in place of Shikhar Dhawan and wicketkeeper Saha, who has a niggle, was replaced by Patel.
Excluding Bhuvneshwar, Kohli cited the reason that seamer won't be effective on the bouncy wicket. On the other hand, Ishant will have the advantage of his height. According to the former cricketer, Kohli's decision would affect Bhuvneshwar's self-confidence.
"Excluding Bhuvneshwar wasn't the right decision. Citing that Ishant might benefit with his height, Virat Kohli has hurt Bhuvneshwar Kumar's self-confidence," Sehwag said.
"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," he added.
In Cape Town, Meerut quick had claimed six-wicket and scored 38 runs amid tough conditions. Besides him, Indian batsmen collapsed like dominoes and the visitors were wrapped for 209 and 135 runs in successive innings.
Currently, India are in trouble as Aiden Markram made 94 and South Africa cashed in after winning the toss to progress to 182-2 against India at tea on the first day of the second Test.
Markram fell just short of a century on his home ground, but South Africa was building partnerships and in control at the break on a surprisingly tame pitch at SuperSport Park.
South Africa already lead the three-test series against top-ranked India 1-0 after winning in Cape Town last week.
