KL Rahul lost his position as India's Test captain after a string of indifferent performances in recent matches but the team hasn't announced a replacement yet. There have been suggestions of all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin being among the candidate and one of the pair could be announced in the position before the third Test against Australia that starts on March 1.
However, former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim has stated that the reason why India haven't announced could be that they are waiting for Rishabh Pant to return. The star wicketkeeper-batter has been effectively ruled out for the rest of the year after being involved in a horrific car crash in December last year.
"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,” said Karim on India News Sports.
Karim said that Jadeja and Pant are the only two real candidates for the post. "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,” Karim added.
The former India selector also said that he doesn't expect Rahul to be dropped from the team now that he has lost the vice-captaincy. "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,” said Karim.
{{/usCountry}}The former India selector also said that he doesn't expect Rahul to be dropped from the team now that he has lost the vice-captaincy. "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,” said Karim.
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