India's next Test Vice-Captain: Three Players who can replace KL Rahul as Rohit Sharma's deputy

Add as a preferred source on Google

India's next Test assignment will commence after a gap of nine days as they take on Australia in the 3rd Test in Indore.

The dominant victories in the first two Tests mean India have wrapped up the Border Gavaskar Trophy with an unassailable 2-0 lead already.

And after the Delhi win on Sunday, BCCI named the Test squad for the remainder of the Test series. Amid the growing unrest over KL Rahul's selection in the team, the batter has been included for the final two matches.

But much to the surprise, the Indian team named for the last two Test matches had no mentioned vice-captain in it, suggesting KL Rahul has lost his role as the Test deputy. It is reported that Indian captain Rohit Sharma has been given the choice to choose his own deputy for the Indore and Ahmedabad Tests.

KL Rahul, who has been undergoing miserable form, was left out of his burden of vice-captaincy by the selectors. And ahead of his absence, here are the three Indian players who can take over the role of Rohit Sharma's understudy-

1. Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin can be an option for Rohit Sharma as his deputy. Ashwin, with his vast experience, can be the perfect advisor for Rohit. He is also one of the top performers both with bat and ball in the Tests for India in the past few years, and will be the perfect replacement for KL Rahul.

The fact that Ashwin is a fiery character, an added responsibility such as vice-captain can further boost his confidence and we may see a more lethal version of him.

2. Cheteshwar Pujara

Rohit Sharma can also choose Cheteshwar Pujara. The calm and composed batter just completed his 100th Test appearance in Delhi and has seen it all in the international format.

Although not an expressive person, Pujara has a brilliant understanding of the game and has the potential to take the right decisions at the crunch moments. He can be the perfect foil to Rohit Sharma in the Test format and can thrive in the new role.

3. Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has established himself as a regular in the Test format. The 28-year-old has prior experience captaining Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and is the current leader of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. Despite Shreyas' flamboyance at times, he can learn a plethora of captaincy lessons under Rohit Sharma.

With Rohit Sharma at the flag end of his career, Shreyas can be moulded into a captain material for the future, and a new role of vice-captaining in the Test format will certainly be a proper learning curve.

Although choosing Shreyas can ruffle some feathers, this can be a pivotal and appropriate step for Indian cricket.