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On the South Africa tour the Indian Test team, captained by Virat Kohli, are currently playing a three-match Test series. At the same time, India's chief selector Chetan Sharma, also announced India's ODI team on December 31 (Friday), the last day of the year 2021, after team India's first Test victory.
The newly-appointed ODI captain Rohit Sharma is out of the ODI series due to his injury and the ODI captaincy has been given to KL Rahul.
Vice-captaincy speculation
At the same time, before Rahul became the captain, experts believed that either wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant or Shreyas Iyer could be made the vice-captain as they have the potential to lead India in coming times. But the selectors rewarded star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah for his consistent performance and appointed him as the vice-captain for the South Africa ODI series.
The Chetan Sharma-led selection committee appointed Bumrah as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa, scheduled to start on January 19, bypassing the tried and tested Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Clear message to Pant and Iyer
If sources close to the selection committee are to be believed, then Bumrah's appointment as vice-captain is a clear message to Pant and Iyer that they will have to show consistency across all the three formats. Bumrah has been consistently performing well since making his international debut back in 2016.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources told PTI, "This arrangement is for one series as Rohit (out due to injury) is set to make a comeback in the series against West Indies and Sri Lanka and then Rahul will take up the role of vice-captain. However, the selectors wanted to reward Jassi (Bumrah) for his consistent performance and good cricketing mind. That's why he was given priority over Pant and Iyer.”
Former chairman of the selection committee MSK Prasad feels that Bumrah has been made the vice-captain for only one series, so it was an easy decision for the selectors.
Prasad said, “Jasprit is very intelligent and works very intelligently. So why not give them respect? I like this decision. If a fast bowler is performing well in all formats, why not make him the captain.”
Indian team are scheduled to face South Africa in the penultimate ODI on January 21 and the last ODI will take place on January 23.
