3 Players Who Can Replace KL Rahul As India's Vice-Captain In Limited-Overs Cricket

India vice-captain KL Rahul is currently going through poor form with the bat after missing out on most of the matches for India this year due to injuries.

The star Indian opener has been constantly under the scanner for his place in the upcoming T20 World Cup after a poor show in the ongoing Asia Cup.

Rahul, also being the vice-captain, failed big time in the ongoing Asia Cup and has scored just 70 runs in four games at an average of 17.5. Thereafter, India lost both of their Super-4 games and were out of the race to the Asia Cup Final. 

Now with Rahul being out of form ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia, the team might have to look for another option to be the vice-captain of India in limited overs cricket.

The 30-year-old’s captaincy is not at all praised by the fans, be it in the IPL or while captaining the Indian team in absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rahul’s stint as the captain of the Indian cricket team has not been a successful one so far and many questions have been raised about his leadership skills.

Earlier this year, team India lost a Test match and a three-match ODI series against South Africa under his captaincy. He is often termed as the reluctant captain, with the fans and the experts really not looking at him as a natural leader. 

With the T20 World Cup starting in October next month and ODI World Cup next year, many former cricketers and fans have opined on Rahul’s leadership skills. So, let’s list out three cricketers who can replace Rahul as the deputy of Rohit Sharma in Indian limited overs cricket.

3 Players Who Can Replace KL Rahul As India’s Vice-Captain In Limited-Overs Cricket

1. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya the captain was very impressive while leading his new IPL team, Gujarat Titans in IPL this year. Pandya, who was constantly out of the action due to his injury, took a break of a few months for recovery and made his return to competitive cricket in IPL 2022.

He had a stellar IPL season as a player and led the Titans to their maiden IPL title in the very first season as captain. Since then, he has been preferred by many to be India’s next captain in limited-overs cricket.

The 28-year-old made his captaincy debut for India against Ireland and won the 2-match T20I series by 2-0. If the management wants an option besides KL Rahul as vice-captain of the Indian team, the Titans’ skipper definitely makes a strong case for himself.

2. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is definitely one of the options for the captaincy of the Indian cricket team in the future. He recently led the Indian T20I side against South Africa in a five-match series at home.

The wicket-keeper batter was further named as the deputy to Rohit Sharma in absence of KL Rahul.

Although he has been poor with the bat in the shortest format, his ODI numbers in the last 2 years are magnificent.

The management has given Pant a long run in the T20Is so far, Which means he is definitely amongst the options to be India’s next vice-captain not only in the limited overs cricket but in all three formats.

3. Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah led the Indian test team in the rescheduled fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston in July. The Indian speedster is currently one of the leaders in the Indian dressing room.

With KL Rahul being out of form, the management might think that giving the baton to Bumrah in limited overs cricket will be the right thing to do, who has a huge role to play in the two big white ball tournaments in the next 14 months.

Earlier this year, the 28-year-old was recently named as the vice-captain of the Indian ODI team for the three-match series against South Africa.