Ex-Indian wicket-keeper reveals why India haven't named a vice-captain in Tests

India Test team (Image credits: Twitter)

India lead 2-0 in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy after comprehensive wins in the first two Tests against Australia. Both the Tests in Nagpur and Delhi ended in the first three days as the Indian bowlers completely demolished the visitors. Rohit and Co. won the first Test by an innings and 132 runs and won the second Test by 6 wickets. However, the visitors will look to bounce back in the remaining two Tests despite few injury concerns in their camp.

Although India have dominated the series so far, they have been worried about the form of their opening batter. KL Rahul was seen completely out of touch as he struggled to perform well in both the Test matches. Rahul's lean patch forced the management to remove him from the captaincy role and invited criticism from former cricketers and fans across the country.

Meanwhile, the Indian Cricket Board announced the Indian squad for the remaining two Tests last week, with the members remaining the same but with one change. The right-handed batter's consistent failures may prompt captain Rohit Sharma to exclude him from the playing XI, however, he has been included in the squad without the VC tag.

Saba Karim on why India did not announce vice-captain

India haven't announced Rohit Sharma's new deputy for the remaining two Test matches. Former India cricketer Saba Karim shared his opinion on this, saying, India did not announce a vice-captain because they are waiting for Rishabh Pant to return.

"There is a reason why India haven't named a vice-captain. Everybody is waiting for Rishabh Pant to return. He is an ideal candidate for the post of vice-captain. He was being groomed too. We also need to consider who is going to lead in the WTC cycle that starts in two years,” Karim told India News Sports.

Pant is India's main player, especially in the longer format. But the star batter is out of cricket action since last December after being involved in  horrific car accident. While referring to the "unfortunate" incident with the Indian wicketkeeper batter, the former right-handed batter suggested another name for the VC role.

He said: "If you ask me, there are only two candidates at the moment: Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. However, the issue with Jadeja is that he has had some injury issues. Pant, on the other hand, hasn't had any major injuries. This accident was quite unfortunate, but apart from that, he has always been fit.

"The signal is very clear that he (KL Rahul) has been removed from the vice-captaincy because his performances haven't been up to the mark. However, this doesn't mean that he won't find a place in the playing XI. It's just that you can only be the vice-captain if you perform well. The advantage for KL Rahul is that India have been winning. Things would have been different had India been trailing 2-0. There wouldn't have been any hesitation in dropping Rahul from the team,” Karim added.