New Delhi: Vice-captaincy is a curse in Indian cricket.
In recent times, Hardik Pandya is the one who has felt the brunt of being the heir-apparent. Hardik went from being the T20 World Cup final’s game-changer, designated vice-captain, captain-in-waiting, to a powerless foot-soldier in Suryakumar Yadav’s new unit in the T20Is.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!In Test cricket, as R Ashwin mentioned on his Hindi YouTube channel "Ash Ki Baat," with
Rohit Sharma and
Virat Kohli stepping away, there is a big void in leadership.
Earlier this month, TimesofIndia.com reported that the Ajit Agarkar-led India men's senior selection committee is set to pick
Shubman Gill as India's next Test captain, and his first challenge will be the upcoming five-match Test series in England, starting from June 20.
However, TimesofIndia.com has learned that the selection committee, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and the BCCI are not in sync with whom they will appoint as Shubman's deputy.
The names that have been thrown into the mix are Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant.
Interestingly, Bumrah was believed to be next in line to take over the mantle from Rohit Sharma. He was the vice-captain during the tour of Australia in December-January and even led in Rohit's absence in Perth and Sydney. But his recurring back injury and the inclination to focus on his workload has seemingly cost him the job.
KL Rahul, who was once unofficially touted as the guy around whom the Test squad would be built, has gone down the ladder. KL Rahul has led India in three Test matches, with two wins and one loss. But at 33, with age not on his side, will he be the appropriate guy for the job?
In an ideal world, Rishabh Pant, in the 43 Tests he has played for India, is a generational Test talent and should be
India's next captain in the red-ball format. He has single-handedly won matches for India. He can turn the tide in a session or two in Test cricket. Along with Jasprit Bumrah, Pant is probably among the handful of match-winners left in the Indian Test squad.
Although the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a small sample to judge captaincy, and is a different format, both Rahul and Pant have struggled as skippers for different franchises. KL Rahul has come into his own for Delhi Capitals, where he is not captaining anymore, and at the same time, Pant is having a miserable time both with the bat and as captain for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Amidst all this debate, the one name that has been overlooked is Shreyas Iyer.
The 30-year-old has featured in 14 Tests, last played in February 2024 against England. His Test career was perhaps halted too soon. He could have been a leader in that team and could have reduced the void R Ashwin was talking about.
Gill’s rumoured promotion to captaincy has not sat well with former cricketers. Former India openers Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Wasim Jaffer have questioned his credentials and have raised doubts about whether he is a certainty in India's Test XI.
But those who are tracking the developments believe that the captaincy debate has been sorted, and
Gill will walk out for toss at Leeds wearing the captain's blazer.
But again,
who will be his deputy?While the vice-captain is officially second-in-command, this role doesn't assure a seamless transition to captaincy. Instead, vice-captaincy often serves as a symbolic title without a clear path to leadership, offering limited authority and no guaranteed succession.
In Indian cricket, it has been a game of musical chairs. The likes of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah have, over the past decade, come close to sealing their spot at the top but have failed and even lost their places in the playing XI entirely.
Over the years, vice-captaincy in Indian cricket has been a fancy designation. They play the waiting game, where the wait is actually endless.
It will be interesting to see whether the next vice-captain of India's Test team will be able to buck the trend and the curse that comes with it.
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