In the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul will lead team India in the first test against Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhary Stadium in Chattogram on December 14. To everybody’s surprise, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Cheteshwar Pujara instead of Rishabh Pant.
Breaking the silence over the development, Rahul said that Pant and Pujara had been brilliant for Team India. He added that players carry on as a team. Rahul made these remarks during a press conference ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh.
The stand-in skipper said, “I at least don’t know what the criteria is, whoever is picked you give yourself a pat on your back. Even for me, when I was named the vice-captain, you get happy, you have the responsibility of the team. It really doesn’t change much, everybody knows their role and responsibility and how much the team appreciates their contribution.”
“Rishabh and Puji both have been brilliant for us, and have done the job so many times. Itna jada sochte nahin hai jo hai (We don’t really think that much), he tries to take the responsibility. We carry on as a team,” he added. India will play the second Test match of the series on December 22 at She-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.
Notably, Pant was part of the leadership group in 2022. The BCCI’s decision to ignore Pant for the appointment of vice-captain came as a surprise to cricket fans. Pant has not been in his prime form in the limited-over format of the game. However, he performed really well in red-ball cricket. He scored a quickfire century when Tem India last played a Test against England in July.
India’s skipper Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram due to a thumb injury. Sharma sustained the injury during the second one-day international (ODI) against the hosts on December 7. India lost the three-match ODI series 1-2.
