Ravi Shastri weighs in on KL Rahul situation, says appointing vice-captain at home complicates selection
The Hindu
With the young Shubhman Gill waiting in the wings despite his stellar run across formats, the pressure is increasing on Rahul.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri is against the idea of picking a vice-captain in a home series as he feels it complicates the selection of the best XI when the deputy team leader is not in form.
Shastri also hinted that Shubman Gill should replace KL Rahul in the remaining two Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
There has been a lot of talk around India vice-captain Rahul's prolonged lean patch. The opener has scores of 22, 23, 10, 2, 20, 17 and 1 in his last seven innings.
With the young Gill waiting in the wings despite his stellar run across formats, the pressure is increasing on Rahul.
"The team management know his (Rahul's) form, they know his mental state. They know how they should be watching someone like Gill," Shastri said on the ICC Review podcast.
"I 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." Rahul, who was the designated vice-captain for the first two Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, has retained his place for the final two games but is no longer Rohit Sharma's deputy.
"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.
He has worn India’s blues, albeit in an Under-19 World Cup, with K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat as his teammates. He has proudly adorned the Lion’s Crest — the famed Mumbai cricket logo — in all three formats. He has played with Yuvraj Singh, against Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid and has the likes of Rahul and Joe Root in his illustrious list of dismissals. He is also a software developer for an IT giant, based in California. Virtually every middle-class Indian over the last three decades at some stage dreams of being either a cricketer or an IT professional. Saurabh Netravalkar has been combining two dreams, even after relocating to USA to pursue academics at the prestigious Cornell University in 2015.