India vs Australia: Virat Kohli joins unwanted list after losing toss in Perth

This was Virat Kohli’s ninth toss loss this calendar year and he becomes only the third Indian captain to do so.

After losing the toss in the second Test against Australia in Perth, India captain Virat Kohli joined few former big-name skippers in a rather unwanted list, on Friday. Australia won the toss and their skipper Tim Paine opted to bat first at the pace-friendly conditions of the new Perth Stadium.

Tim Paine tosses the coin in air as Virat Kohli looks on. (BCCI/ Twitter)

This was Kohli’s ninth toss loss this calendar year and he becomes only the third Indian captain to do so. Only Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12 in 2010) and Sourav Ganguly (11 in 2002) are ahead of him in this unenvious list.

Moreover, this was Kohli’s 8th away toss loss in 2018 — the join-most by any captain in a calendar year along with Ganguly (8 in 2002) and Clive Lloyd (8 in 1980).

Earlier, after losing the toss, skipper Virat Kohli confirmed they would boast a four-pronged pace attack with speedster Umesh Yadav replacing spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was ruled out with a left abdominal strain.

Spin bowling all-rounder Hanuma Vihari came in for injury-hit middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma. Australia named an unchanged lineup on Wednesday despite a 31-run defeat in the series-opener. Paine overcame an injury scare after appearing to injure his troubled right index finger on the final day in Adelaide.

India captain Virat Kohli said he would have batted as well, with temperatures due to nudge 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).

“But it’s not a bad thing to bowl on day one on a wicket which has a lot of grass. We are happy with whatever we are going to do,” he said.

((With Agency Inputs))