Rishabh Pant is an ideal candidate for the post of vice-captain in Tests: Saba Karim

Indian opener KL Rahul was removed from his position of vice-captain of the Indian Test team after his dismal run in the format. The 30-year-old has failed to score a half-century in the format in the last ten innings. However, team India have not announced their new vice-captain yet with reports of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being the front runners for the position doing rounds.

According to reports, India will likely announce their new vice-captain before the third Test against Australia starting on March 1. However, former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim believes that the reason behind India not announcing their new vice-captain yet could be that they are waiting for Rishabh Pant’s return. The wicketkeeper-batter will not be seen on the cricket field for the rest of the year following his horrific car crash in December last year.

"There is a reason why India haven't named a vice-captain. Everybody is waiting for Rishabh Pant to return. He is an ideal candidate for the post of vice-captain. He was being groomed too. We also need to consider who is going to lead in the WTC cycle that starts in two years,” Karim was quoted as saying by India News Sports.

Karim feels that Jadeja and Pant are the only two real candidates for the post. Though Pant has been out of the international setup for now, Jadeja marked his international comeback brilliantly during the Test series against Australia and won the Player of the Match award in both the concluded Tests.

"If you ask me, there are only two candidates at the moment: Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. However, the issue with Jadeja is that he has had some injury issues. Pant, on the other hand, hasn't had any major injuries. This accident was quite unfortunate, but apart from that, he has always been fit,” he added.

This doesn't mean that he won't find a place in the playing XI: Saba Karim

The 55-year-old further stated that despite being removed from vice-captaincy, KL Rahul might still find a place in the playing eleven as India is winning.

"The signal is very clear that he (KL Rahul) has been removed from the vice-captaincy because his performances haven't been up to the mark. However, this doesn't mean that he won't find a place in the playing XI. It's just that you can only be the vice-captain if you perform well. The advantage for KL Rahul is that India have been winning. Things would have been different had India been trailing 2-0. There wouldn't have been any hesitation in dropping Rahul from the team,” Karim concluded.