The BCCI on Sunday (December 11) announced the revised Team India squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on December 14 in Chattogram.
After regular skipper Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the first Test against Bangladesh, KL Rahul was named India's captain and Cheteshwar Pujara was named vice-captain for the Test series ahead of Rishabh Pant.
The decision received a lot of criticism from fans on social media. Rahul, the stand-in skipper, has now revealed why Pujara was chosen as the vice-captain for the Test series.
KL Rahul said during the pre-match press conference in Chattogram: “I at least don't know what the criteria is, whoever is picked you give yourself a pat on your back. Even for me, when I was named the vice-captain, you get happy, you have the responsibility of the team.”
He added, “It really doesn't change much, everybody knows their role and responsibility and how much the team appreciates their contribution. Rishabh and Puji both have been brilliant for us, and have done the job so many times. Itna jada sochte nahin hai jo hai (We don't really think that much), he tries to take responsibility. We carry on as a team.”
The Test series will get underway with the first Test on December 14 in Chattogram.
India's updated squad for Bangladesh Tests:
KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat
(Sony Sports inputs)
