Rishabh Pant axed as vice-captain of Test squad, Rohit-Kohli retain spot in ODIs

India have dropped Rishabh Pant as vice-captain of the Test squad. BCCI wanted to give the cricketer a breathing space after a lean patch in white-ball cricket. KL Rahul has been announced as Shubman Gill?s new deputy for the one-off Test against Afghanistan.

There were some interesting exclusions from the Test squad as well. Senior cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah were rested, with Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey picked as their replacements. However, the chief selector Ajit Agarkar has confirmed that Jadeja is only rested from the Test series and that he is India?s ?number-one spinner? in the format.

When it comes to ODIs, Jadeja?s days could be numbered. Agarkar confirmed that the team management is looking beyond them, keeping the South African conditions in mind. However, he, along with Axar Patel are part of the scheme of things. 

In the meantime, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have retained their spot in the ODI squad. There were plenty of discussions regarding Rohit?s future in the format, but the team management backed the opener. There were no discussions whatsoever regarding Kholi, who has proved his mettle not just in international cricket, but most recently in the IPL as well.

In the meantime, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia also confirmed that Rohit and Hardik Pandya?s



selections are subject to fitness. The Mumbai Indians captain is currently out of their playing XI, nursing a back injury. He has been spotted batting alone in the nets as Mumbai are yet to share any concrete information regarding the nature of the injury. However, it is not considered to be very serious, else the cricketer would have reported to the Centre of Excellence.

Rohit, on the other hand, is playing well for MI, but the management isn?t sure if he is fit to field for 50 overs. 

The ODI squad also has several newcomers added, including Prince Yadav, Harsh and Gurnoor. Mohammed Siraj isn?t named in the squad, while Agarkar confirmed that Mohammed Shami wasn?t discussed at all, as they believe he is only fit for T20Is. 

India squad vs Afghanistan:

Test squad - Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Dhruv Jurel, Harsh Dubey

ODI squad - Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey

Rohit and Pandya - Subject to fitness