After the conclusion of the ODI series, all the focus has now shifted to the much-awaited Test match series against Bangladesh. In the absence of captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul will be seen leading the Indian cricket team in the Test series. Recently, Indian captain, Rohit Sharma suffered a thumb injury during the 2nd ODI match, following which he was ruled out of the 3rd ODI and the upcoming Test series. While KL Rahul will be leading the team as the captain, but to everyone’s surprise, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Cheteshwar Pujara instead of Rishabh Pant. Yes, you read that right.
Rishabh Pant, who has been going through a difficult time with the bat, has been a part of the leadership group in 2022, however, the BCCI’s decision to ignore Pant as vice-captain in the upcoming series came out as a big surprise for everyone. Though, Pant has been struggling to leave an impact in the white-ball format, but he has a pretty amazing record in the red-ball format.
Meanwhile, ahead of the much-awaited Test series, KL Rahul was asked about the development. Breaking the silence on this matter, KL Rahul said that Pant and Pujara had been brilliant for Team India and the players are going to carry on as a team. He said:
“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. It really doesn’t change much, everybody knows their role and responsibility and how much the team appreciates their contribution.”
He added: “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 the responsibility. We carry on as a team,”
Team 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), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat.
