Ajinkya Rahane’s form reason behind Test vice-captaincy loss: MSK Prasad

Ajinkya Rahane. Pic/AFP

The first salvo has been fired at out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane with the Chetan Sharma-headed national selection committee deciding to take away the vice-captaincy of the Indian Test team from the Mumbai batsman.

Rohit Sharma will be Virat Kohli's new deputy in cricket's longest format.

Rahane, who averages just under 20 in 12 Tests this year, managed to hang on to his place in the Test team for the South Africa tour.

"Whenever Rahane was given the opportunity to lead the Test team in the absence of Virat, he was exceptionally good. Unfortunately, his form did not help his cause. In a logical sense, you only give the vice-captain's position to a player who is assured of his place. So, probably that's the reason the selectors would have gone ahead with the appointment of Rohit as the Test team's vice-captain," said MSK Prasad.

Venkatapathy Raju agreed: "It makes sense to make Rohit the vice-captain. He has been consistent in all formats. Rahane has been struggling on slow wickets. It is not like a bold decision or something. They [Kohli and Rahane] should take this in their stride," he said.

India's Test squad
V Kohli (captain), Rohit (vc), KL Rahul, M Agarwal, C Pujara, A Rahane, S Iyer, H Vihari, R Pant (wk), W Saha (wk), R Ashwin, J Yadav, Ishant, M Shami, U Yadav, J Bumrah, S Thakur, M Siraj Standby players: N Saini, S Kumar, D Chahar, A Nagwaswalla