Former India coach Ravi Shastri has asserted that there shouldn’t be any designated vice-captain in the Indian Test, especially when they play at home.
This recent vice-captaincy drama in Indian cricket has arisen after KL Rahul was sacked as the Test vice-captain for the remaining 2 Test matches against Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
KL Rahul was the vice-captain for the first two Tests. But he managed scores of 20, 17, and 1, carrying on from his poor Test form in the past year, and this forced the selectors to remove his vice-captaincy position, giving the team management the powers to bench KL Rahul for the in-form Shubman Gill, who carried drinks in the first two Tests.
Emphasizing the need to only pick the best XI and not focus on matters like vice-captain, Ravi Shastri said he doesn’t like the idea of having a deputy in home conditions. He added that anyone pre-decided can take the DRS duties if the captain is off the field.
“The team management will decide (the vice-captain). They know his (Rahul’s) form, they know his mental state. They know how they should be watching someone like Shubman Gill. I, for one, always had the belief (to) never appoint a vice-captain for India. I would rather go with by best XI, and if captain has to leave the field, you’d zero in on a player that can take over at the time, simply because you don’t need to create complications,” Shastri said on the ICC Review podcast.
Since the start of 2022, KL Rahul averages only 15 in 11 Test innings
Citing KL Rahul’s situation, Shastri raised the question that what if the underperforming vice-captain needs to be dropped, then so be it, the former head coach opined.
“If vice-captain doesn’t perform, someone can take his place; at least the tag is not there. I’m being blunt and brutal, I never like vice-captain in home condition. Overseas, it’s different. Here, you want prime form, you want someone like Shubman Gill, who’s red hot. He will challenge. He has to bang that door down and get into the side. Now, he’s not the vice-captain, it has to be team management’s decision,” Shastri added.
The third Test will start on March 1 in Indore. Everyone is waiting to see whether KL Rahul gets dropped or the management persists with the opener for one more Test.
