‘Vice-Captain’ Missing From India Test Squad, Sparks Talk Over KL Rahul

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) squad announcement for the third and 4th Tests against Australia didn’t see a change in terms of personnel but a big difference was spotted.

In terms of the designation of KL Rahul. The Karnataka batter, who has been going through a poor run of form, no longer had the ‘vice-captain’ tag in front of his name in the board’s squad announcement. The decision has left fans scratching their heads, wondering if the opening batter has lost his post.

Rahul, whose sequence of scores in the last seven innings have been 22, 23, 10, 2, 20, 17, and 1, has been the central talking point in the Indian squad that has done fairly well in the two concluded Tests against Australia. With an in-form batter like Shubman Gill warming the bench, pressure is mounting on the Indian team management to find a solution.

While Rahul hasn’t been dropped from the squad yet, the board seems to have decided to demote him from the vice-captain’s post. As per a report, the BCCI has given captain Rohit Sharma the power to appoint his deputy in the longest format of the game.

“It was decided not to name any vice-captain. Instead, the power was given to Rohit Sharma. Who will lead the side in case he has to leave the field is Rohit Sharma’s call,” The Indian Express quoted as source as saying.

India’s Test squad for third and fourth Test against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), K L Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.

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After the conclusion of the second Test in New Delhi, both skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid were asked about KL Rahul’s struggles.

While Rohit continued to lend his full support to Rahul, he also admitted that the opening batter needs to learn how to play on spin-friendly surfaces. Dravid also felt that all Rahul needs to do is ‘trust the process’.