Why Rishabh Pant removed as India Test vice-captain? Reason inside
The BCCI recently announced India’s ODI and Test squad for the upcoming one-off test and 3-match ODI series. In the Red Ball team, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, and Harsh Dubey got their maiden call-up. While Devdutt Padikkal has been rewarded for his magnificent form with a return to the Test squad. However, there has been a major change in the test team. KL Rahul has been given the responsibility of vice-captain in place of Rishabh Pant. It is believed that the left-handed wicket-keeper batter was removed from leadership duties due to his prolonged struggle with form.
After announcing the squad, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar explained the reason behind making KL Rahul the vice-captain of the test team. He said that KL Rahul has been given this responsibility because of his experience and past leadership roles, and that we want to get the best out of Rishabh Pant. And this change is not a long-term plan. He said that KL Rahul can share his experience with Shubman Gill, which will benefit the team, and if Shubman Gill is unavailable for any reason, he should also be able to take on the captaincy, as he has been able to lead the Test team before. He also praised KL Rahul's recent form.
“I mean, KL's been test captain before, yeah, I mean obviously Rishabh was vice-captain, and we want him to be the best batter that he can be and that he's always been in test cricket. So, no, there's no other reason,” Agarkar said.
"Futuristic, I mean that's the best option we think at this point that we have as far as vice-captain with experience, in case we saw during the South Africa series as well, when Shubman got injured, and KL provides us with the necessary experience that you need in case the situation arises. Plus, you know he's obviously had a really good tour of England and against the West Indies, so and lots of experience," he added.
Rishabh Pant has been struggling with his form. Against South Africa, he scored only 49 runs in 4 innings. In the ongoing IPL season 2026, he could manage only to score 286 runs in 13 innings, including 1 half-century. On the other hand, KL Rahul scored 533 runs in 13 innings, including 1 century and 4 half-centuries. However, like Rishabh, Rahul also failed against South Africa, scoring 68 runs in 4 innings.
The test match will be held at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, from June 6 to 10. This will be the second test between the two teams. Both teams faced each other in a test match in 2018, in which India won by an innings and 262 runs inside two days.
So far, KL Rahul has not become the permanent Test captain, but he has previously led the Test side on 3 occasions, securing two victories. However, only 1 Test is to be played against Afghanistan, in which it is clear that Shubman Gill will lead the team. This match is also not included in the WTC, hence India's bowling attack is completely new. After Afghanistan, India is to play 2 Test matches on the Sri Lanka tour in August, where experienced bowlers are likely to be included.
India’s Test squad vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill ©, KL Rahul (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel (wk)
