The Indian cricket board on Saturday announced the name of KL Rahul as Virat Kohli’s deputy for the Test series in South Africa in place of Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma has already ruled himself out of the Test series citing injuries. The BCCI said, “KL Rahul replaces Rohit Sharma as vice-captain, who was ruled out of the Test series owing to a hamstring injury.”
Sharma pulling out of the Test series had given rise to speculations that all was not well between him and Virat Kohli.
That’s because Sharma is been named the ODI captain in place of Virat Kohli. Many reports had also claimed that Kohli was not keen on playing under Sharma and may opt out of the ODI series against South Africa to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday.
Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin had tweeted, “Virat Kohli has informed that he’s not available for the ODI series & Rohit Sharma is unavailable fr d upcoming test. There is no harm in takin a break but d timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation abt d rift. Neither wil be giving up d other form of cricket.”
Kohli was asked about the reported rift between him and Sharma during his fiery press conference. To which, the India Test captain had said, “There is no problem between me and Rohit Sharma. I have been clarifying for the past two years and I am tired.”
The three-Test series between South Africa and India starts on 26 December with the first match scheduled to be held at SuperSport Park, Centurion.