Rishabh Pant etched his name in history books of Indian Test cricket on Saturday, becoming only the second wicketkeeper to captain the country in Test cricket. He is currently leading the side in the second and final Test against South Africa in Guwahati, stepping in for regular skipper Shubman Gill, who was ruled out due to a neck injury. The 28-year-old, playing his 48th Test, is now India’s 38th Test captain and only the second wicketkeeper after MS Dhoni to lead the national side in the longest format. Dhoni captained India in 60 Tests between 2008 and 2014.
Speaking ahead of the match, Pant acknowledged the unusual circumstances but expressed pride in the opportunity.
"Definitely, one-off match is not the best scenario as a captain. But at the same time, I'm really proud that BCCI has given me this opportunity. You know, whenever you're leading your country, it's the proudest moment," he said in the pre-match press conference.
“But at the same time I am not overthinking about it. We all know how we play cricket and how we want to conduct ourselves on the pitch. It's been a tough Test match, the last one and coming out of it and we just want to do whatever is required to win this Test match and focus on that."
India lose toss
Pant’s debut as Test captain began with familiar disappointment at the toss, as South Africa’s Temba Bavuma called correctly and opted to bat first. Team India made two changes with Noitish Kumar Reddy and Sai Sudarshan coming in for Gill and Axar Patel
IND vs SA 2nd Test Playing XI
South Africa (Playing XI): Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma(c), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Senuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
