India is all set to play the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy from March 1 against Australia and the team has not announced the name of Vice-captain yet.
Indian opener KL Rahul lost his place as vice-captain of the Indian Test team due to his poor performance in the format. In the last ten innings, the 30-year-old has failed to reach a half-century in the format.
However, despite rumours that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the front-runners for the role, Team India has not yet revealed their new vice-captain.
Before the third Test against Australia, which begins on March 1, India is expected to reveal their new vice-captain, according to reports. Saba Karim, a former wicketkeeper for India, thinks that the country’s hesitation in announcing its new vice captain may be due to Rishabh Pant’s absence. After his catastrophic car accident in December of last year, the wicketkeeper-batter won’t be seen on a cricket field for the remainder of the season.
While talking to India News Reports, Saba Karim said,”There is a reason why India hasn’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 believes that the only 2 primary candidates for the position of vice-captain are Jadeja and Pant. Although Pant is now not part of the international team, Jadeja made a strong international comeback during the Test series against Australia and was named Player of the Match in both of the last Tests.
He further added,”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.”
Saba Karim Names The Perfect ‘Vice-captain’ Candidate For Team India
Saba Karim also predicted that KL Rahul won’t be part of the Indian playing XI for the third Test. The third Test between the two teams will be played from March 1 at Holkar Stadium, Indore.