Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra said that Ajinkya Rahane should be made vice-captain of the Test series in South Africa after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the red-ball series with a hamstring injury.
Rohit was later replaced by Priyank Panchal, but the selectors haven’t announced the vice-captain till now and Chopra said Rahane must be the logical option to fill the vice-captain void.
Notably, Rahane has had a horrendous year with the bat, scoring just 411 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 19.57, which made him make way for Rohit to replace him as India’s vice-captain in Test cricket.
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Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “Now you will not even know whom to make the vice-captain; is it going to be Ajinkya Rahane, or they will have to find someone else? You will have to logically make him the vice-captain because you had made him the captain just now in Kanpur.”
He added, “If he was the captain in Kanpur and when the tour starts in South Africa and Rohit Sharma is not there, him (Rahane) being the vice-captain is absolutely certain. But do you see his place being certain in the team; you cannot make him the vice-captain today and drop him in the next match.”
Meanwhile, Chopra also suggested Jasprit Bumrah’s name as an outside option to make Virat Kohli's deputy for the upcoming Test series against South Africa, starting on December 26 in Centurion.
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The cricket expert explained, “I feel India will not announce a vice-captain at all; Virat Kohli is the captain; Rahul Dravid is the coach, you can manage between the two of you. Unless of course, you announce Jasprit Bumrah as the vice-captain. That is a possibility because he is a regular candidate.”
He signed off by saying, “You can also make Ravichandran Ashwin because now there is no other spinner as well. If Ravindra Jadeja was there, we say that you don't play Ashwin overseas, but now there is Jayant Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin, and you know who amongst those two will play.”
