Virat Kohli walked out for the toss in the second Test against South Africa in Pune. He won the toss and chose to bat first. He is the second Indian skipper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni to lead the team in 50 or more Tests
Pune: India captain Virat Kohli achieved yet another milestone in his illustrious international career as he led the national team for the 50th time in Tests on Thursday (October 10).
Kohli walked out for the toss in the second Test against South Africa in Pune. He won the toss and chose to bat first. He is the second Indian skipper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni to lead the team in 50 or more Tests.
Also read: India vs South Africa 2019 series schedule, squads, live streaming information
Dhoni had led the Indian side for the most number of times in the longest format of the game. He captained India for 60 matches in the Test format.
Earlier this year, Kohli surpassed Dhoni to become the most successful Indian Test captain. Kohli has 29 wins. Dhoni had won 27 Tests.
Also read: Kohli breaks Dhoni's record in Tests
On the eve of the Test, Kohli had said he was grateful to have captained India.
He said, "I feel I am lucky enough to be in this position. I am grateful that I have been able to play so many games for India, let alone captain so many games.
"It is a nice little landmark but the focus is to win as many Test matches as possible and just win every game we can. Stats and numbers don't matter to me but when the team recognises these little things, it means something to me as a player.
"I'm grateful for whatever has happened in my career so far."
It will be Match No. 50 as Test Captain for when he takes the field in the 2nd Test against South Africa. Congratulations Skip! 👏👏🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Itfw2BiJgG
— BCCI (@BCCI)After Dhoni made a shock exit from Test cricket in 2014 during the Australia tour, Kohli took over as the captain. Since then he has been exceptional, having won a historic Test series in Australia.
In the current India-South Africa series for the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy, the hosts achieved a comprehensive 203-run victory in Visakhapatnam for a 1-0 lead. The final Test is in Ranchi from October 19.
Toss Time: have won the toss and will bat first pic.twitter.com/AESOB3pDdF
— BCCI (@BCCI)Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.