KL Rahul named vice-captain after injured Hardik Pandya ruled out, confirms head coach Dravid
Nov 04, 2023
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 4 : Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was named as the vice-captain of Team India for the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 after injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed.
Earlier on Saturday, Pandya was ruled out of the entire tournament as he failed to recover from his ankle injury, which he aggravated during India's victory over Bangladesh.
Dravid confirmed the news of Rahul's appointment on Saturday in a pre-match press conference, saying, "Yeah, so he's the vice-captain because Hardik is injured. So, he has become the vice-captain."
Rahul has made useful contributions with bat, scoring 237 runs in 6 innings. He has also been doing a stellar job behind the stumps. He has made incredible saves and collected balls without conceding byes, showcasing his incredible fitness and athleticism.
He has been involved in nine dismissals in seven games, eight of which have been catches and one stumping.
Having won all seven of their previous matches with resounding margins, Team India has been unbeaten in the tournament so far.
India is the first to reach the World Cup semifinals, courtesy of their remarkable run.
While India will miss the service of Pandya, his place in the squad has been taken by young tearaway Prasidh Krishna. The fast bowler was added to the playing group after being approved by the tournament's Event Technical Committee on Saturday.
Throughout the tournament, India's pace attack has looked leagues ahead of their counterparts, performing with aplomb under the lights in their last two fixtures.
Star spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also continued to bamboozle the opposition batters.
South Africa will be wary of the rampant Indians going into the clash in Kolkata on Sunday.
India and South Africa currently occupy the top two places on the World Cup standings and the winner of Sunday's match in Kolkata will finish the group stage of the tournament at the top spot.
India's Updated Squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
