I always had the belief to never appoint a vice-captain for India: Ravi Shastri

Team India made light work of the visiting Australian side in the second Test in Delhi to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth successive time. However, Indian opener KL Rahul's rut with the bat has been the topic of attraction since the conclusion of the second Test. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri is against the idea of appointing a vice-captain for home matches.

KL Rahul's lean run with the bat in the ongoing Test series against Australia has cast a shadow over his place in the team, with the red-hot Shubman Gill waiting for his turn on the bench. The team management axed Rahul from his role as the vice-captain of the team for the third and fourth Test, prompting India to appoint a new deputy to skipper Rohit Sharma.

However, former head coach Ravi Shastri has suggested that the Indian team should refrain from nominating a vice-captain in home conditions. He claims that appointing a deputy to the skipper can create unnecessary complications and the team should rather look at a player to lead the side when the captain has to leave the field of play.

“The team management will decide (the vice-captain). They know his (Rahul's) form, they know his mental state. They know how they should be watching someone like Shubman Gill. I, for one, 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,” Shastri said on the ICC Review podcast.

Shastri further explained that the tag of vice-captain makes it difficult to axe an underperforming player, which was pretty much the case with Rahul, who is keeping Gill out of the team at the moment. The young Indian opener is likely to start ahead of the struggling Indian batting ace in the Indore Test.

“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. Here, you want prime form, you want someone like Shubman Gill, who's red hot. He will challenge. He has to bang that door down and get into the side. Now, he's not the vice-captain, it has to be team management's decision,” Shastri further said.

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