The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the updated team India squad for the remaining two matches of the Border Gavaskar series, and apart from the injury replacements, there was also a revelation about Rohit Sharma’s position in the squad, with Virat Kohli missing from the action.
In the updates squad, Rohit Sharma has been labelled as the vice-captain of the squad, a position occupied by the current stand-in Captain Ajinkya Rahane for so long before he took over the reins from Kohli after his departure from Australia.
The development means Cheteshwar Pujara, who was named the vice-captain of the side after Kohli’s departure and Rohit’s arrival in Australia, will no longer be the deputy to Rahane in the next two Tests.
There were rounds of resentment mong fans and it led to curiosity on social media about Pujara’s position in the leadership group of the team, but a BCCI official said news agency PTI that Rohit was certain to be the deputy to Rahane and that the option of Pujara as the vice-captain of the side was just a ‘stop-gap arrangement.’
Apart from the hint about the leadership group in the team, the development also more or less confirms Rohit Sharma’s chances of playing at the SCG. The team management will have to drop one among Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, or Shubman Gill if they continue to take the aggressive approach of playing five bowlers whereas if they decide to go in with just four bowlers, Rohit will replace Umesh Yadav from the playing XI of the last Test that India won at the MCG.
He was also seen doing what he does best with the bat--timing the cricket ball. He was seen practising against throwdowns from left arm over the wicket in a sign of preparation against Mitchell Starc who has proved to be a nemesis for another Indian opener Mayank Agarwal in the last Test at the MCG.
Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan
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