KL Rahul vice captain: Who will be Team India’s new Vice captain in ODI and T20?

KL Rahul vice captain: After Rohit Sharma’s alleviation to the post of ODI captain, KL Rahul is likely to be Team India’s new Vice-captain.

The BCCI had opened the floodgates of discussions, debates, animosity and what not ever since BCCI’s selection committee selected an 18-member Test squad for Team India’s tour of South Africa.

The topic however, was not regarding the squad analysis, but regarding a supposed ouster of Virat Kohli as Team India’s ODI captain. The BCCI, in its press release merely mentioned the fact that Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the team’s new ODI skipper, without citing the reason(s) for Kohli’s removal from the post, or an official statement from Kohli himself on the same.

All of this came at a time when the selection committee did not even announce the 3-match ODI squad for the tour.

However, after almost 24 hours of all the confusion and drama, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly finally shed light on the reason for the move, and why he (and the BCCI) felt India could not go on with two captains in the limited Overs format.

With Rohit Sharma set to lead the team in the White-ball format altogether beginning with the ODI series in South Africa from January 19, the post of vice-captain of the team falls vacant.

KL Rahul vice captain: Rahul likely to be named vice-captain in limited Overs

With the selection committee likely to announce the squad for the 3-match ODI series in a few days time, KL Rahul, if sources are to be believed, is likely to be appointed as Team India’s new vice-captain in White Ball Cricket.

“KL (Rahul) will be the next vice-captain. It was an obvious choice in white-ball formats. He has done excellently over the last few years. He has 6-7 years left in him and can be groomed to become the next captain. With Rohit and Virat around besides Dravid, he will learn a lot,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.

Rishabh Pant as vice captain was on the cards as well

As per the above mentioned source, BCCI had also considered wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s name for Rohit Sharma’s deputy as well. But, considering his young age (24 years), the think tank felt the responsibility would prove to be an unnecessary additional burden on him.

“Rishabh is very young and at this stage, giving him extra responsibility could become a burden for him. With the seniors around, he will learn a lot. Personally, I don’t think it would have been the right call to hand over the responsibility as the vice-captain will have to lead at some point when seniors like Rohit are rested,” the BCCI official told InsideSport.

Team India will begin their 3-match ODI series against South Africa at Paarl from January 19, with the 4-match T20I series postponed to a later date.