India vs South Africa: Out of luck Faf du Plessis brings Temba Bavuma as proxy for toss

Toss plays a vital role when a Test is played in India. With the passage of time, the Indian pitches deteriorate and the teams which bat first always get the upper hand. Unsurprisingly, the teams remain desperate to win the toss. But then again, toss is all about luck and South Africa captain Faf du Plessis must have realized it.

South Africa are struggling not only with the bat and ball on the field in the series but also with the toss. They lost the toss of the first two games and duly paid the price. India made the most of the good batting conditions early on and piled up mammoth scores. South Africa, on the other hand, had to bat on a worn-out pitch and they paid the price for it.

Thus to make sure that they win the toss for the last Test in Ranchi, Faf du Plessis came up with an innovative idea. The under-pressure South Africa captain brought his teammate Temba Bavuma with him for the toss. Commentator Murali Kartik called Bavuma the proxy captain before India skipper Virat Kohli tossed the coin.

However, bringing Bavuma did not make any difference as South Africa lost the toss again. Kohli and du Plessis were then all smiles as the India skipper walked up to Kartik to talk about the team and other things. Following is the video of the toss posted by BCCI on their official Twitter handle.

Here’s the video

Virat Kohli called it a no-brainer to bat first at the Toss #TeamIndia #INDvSA @Paytm 🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/3V4fKvcVWr

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 19, 2019

Faf du Plessis on bringing Bavuma for the toss

Speaking after the toss, Faf du Plessis spoke about bringing his teammate for the toss. He also rued losing the toss again due to the dry Ranchi pitch. The South Africa star soon shifted his focus towards the playing eleven and said that Quinton de Kock will open the innings while George Linde will make his Test debut.

“It shows that it isn’t meant to be (about using Bavuma as a proxy skipper for luck). Important toss as this looks the driest surface of the series. It’s about the first innings really and we need to put runs on the board when we bat. One forced change with Aiden (Markram),” said Faf du Plessis.

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