The BCCI has sacked KL Rahul as the vice-captain of the Test team following his below-par run over past one year. Rahul, who had first become part of the leadership group in Test cricket for the South Africa tour in 2022, became Team India’s permanent vice-captain starting the series against Sri Lanka.
He also got to lead the team in one of the Test matches against South Africa and the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. But questions were being raised over his spot in the team following his below-par performances with the bat. The BCCI didn’t drop Rahul from the squad but removed him from vice-captaincy.
Surprisingly, the BCCI hasn’t named any vice-captain for the last two Two Test matches. Cheteshwar Pujara assisted Rahul in Bangladesh but he has been ignored for the job.
Rahul has only managed 175 runs in 7 Test matches since becoming part of the leadership group. He has breached the 50-run mark once since 2022. Rahul was also sacked as the ODI captain for the home series against Sri Lanka. He has been named in the ODI squad for the Australia series as well but Hardik Pandya is now the vice-captain of the ODI team. He has led India in every T20I since the 2022 T20 World Cup.
It remains to be seen if Rahul retains his spot in the playing XI in the last two Test matches. His presence at the top has seen Shubman Gill sit on the bench. The youngster is enjoying a dream run in 2023 but has been pipped by Rahul.
Rahul does have captain Rohit Sharma’s backing and could play the 3rd Test match as well. The penultimate Test of the four-match series will be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore from March 1 to 5. The 4th Test match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium from March 9 to 13.
