IND vs SA: KL Rahul Appointed As Vice-Captain For Test Series Against South Africa

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formally appointed Indian opener, KL Rahul, as the vice-captain of the team for the 3-match away Test series against South Africa.

Rohit Sharma, the regular vice-captain of the Test team, was ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury. In his stead, Rahul will take over and act as the deputy to skipper, Virat Kohli.

“The All-India Senior selection committee has named KL Rahul as vice-captain for the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa. KL Rahul replaces Rohit Sharma as vice-captain, who was ruled out of the Test series owing to a hamstring injury,” the official statement from BCCI read.

Rahul has experience of being in a leadership role having done so for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL. However, it might be a debatable decision with Ravichandran Ashwin in the side. Rahul wasn’t even in the Test team six matches ago and with Ashwin expected to be a regular, it will be interesting to see how the news is received.

As for the squad, Rohit was replaced by India A captain, Priyank Panchal, who is already in South Africa. He may have to wait for his chance considering Mayank Agarwal recently got back into form in the home series against New Zealand.

According to reports, the tour could also be the last for Ishant Sharma. Senior batsman, Ajinkya Rahane, is also on the brink of being axed due to his terrible form in the longest format.

India’s Test squad for South Africa series:

Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Priyank Panchal, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Md. Siraj.

Also Read – Ashes 2021-22: Steve Smith Has Handled Captaincy Very Well – Marnus Labuschagne