'Have to make Ajinkya Rahane vice-captain because he was captain just now' - Aakash Chopra as Rohit Sharma gets ruled out of South Africa Tests

Former India opener Aakash Chopra reckons that naming Ajinkya Rahane as the vice-captain for the upcoming South Africa Test series will be the most logical choice. Rahane’s position was recently given by the BCCI and Indian selectors to Rohit Sharma, whose ruling-out injury means the team needs either Rahane to be named as Virat Kohli’s deputy again or else a new stand-in vice-captain. 

In Chopra’s view, Rahane is the ideal candidate for the position, not only because he has served that role for long, but also because he was the one zeroed in as the captain in Kohli’s absence during the recent home Test series against New Zealand. Rahane led the team to nearly a victory in Kanpur, only for the last-wicket pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel to pull off a heist to secure a draw. 

“Now you will not even know whom to make the vice-captain; is it going to be Ajinkya Rahane, or they will have to find someone else? You will have to logically make him the vice-captain because you had made him the captain just now in Kanpur,” Chopra opined in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

However, Rahane’s appointment would mean a guaranteed spot in the team, which in his case is no longer a certainty thanks to his forgettable run in the longest format in 2021.

“If he was the captain in Kanpur and when the tour starts in South Africa and Rohit Sharma is not there, him (Rahane) being the vice-captain is absolutely certain. But do you see his place being certain in the team, you cannot make him the vice-captain today and drop him in the next match,” Chopra added.

I feel India will not announce a vice-captain at all: Aakash Chopra

Chopra went on to reckon that India might as well opt to not name a vice-captain, while also hinting at a potential option if at all one is named.

“I feel India will not announce a vice-captain at all; Virat Kohli is the captain; Rahul Dravid is the coach, you can manage between the two of you. Unless of course, you announce Jasprit Bumrah as the vice-captain. That is a possibility because he is a regular candidate.”

“You can also make Ravichandran Ashwin because now there is no other spinner as well. If Ravindra Jadeja was there, we say that you don’t play Ashwin overseas, but now there is Jayant Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin, and you know who amongst those two will play,” he added.