Indian skipper Virat Kohli once again became the center of cricket pundits and veterans players after gambling with the playing XI for the important Centurion encounter against South Africa. Joining in the chorus was former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag, who slammed Kohli for his gutsy call to drop Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the second Test match that kicked off in SuperSport Stadium on Saturday. After India's humiliating failure to grab victory in the first Test against the Proteas side, Kohli was heavily criticized. Criticized for excluding his Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane, the only batsman in his side who averages at 53.44 on overseas platform.

Rahane remained on the sidelines with Kohli's hope that project Rohit Sharma would churn out well this time. KL Rahul, another choice of the pundits, and of the fans, made his way in for Shikhar Dhawan. A niggle in the hamstring for Wriddhiman Saha gave Parthiv Patel an opportunity with the glove. But the surprise of all stood out to be Ishant Sharma coming in for in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The lanky pacer from Uttar Pradesh was India's best bowler at Newlands. Bhuvi had grabbed six wickets conceding 120 runs in all and also batted with ample patience in the Cape Town Test, especially the one alongside Hardik Pandya in the first innings. Ergo, Sehwag spoke with sheer disappointment at his omission. "Watching Virat Kohli excluding Shikhar Dhawan for just one Test failure, and Bhuvneshwar for no reason at all, Kohli should drop himself in the third Test at Centurion, if he fails to perform in Centurion," Sehwag