Flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was on Tuesday removed as vice-captain of the Indian Test squad for the upcoming one-off match against Afghanistan and dropped from the ODI line-up for the ensuing three-match series against the same opponents.
KL Rahul replaced Pant as the vice-captain of the Indian Test team that is being led by Shubman Gill.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been expectedly rested from both the Test and ODI assignments as part of his workload management but he will be back for the tour of England later this summer. Senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has also been rested from the upcoming Test match by the Ajit Agarkar-led national selection committee.
The home assignments against Afghanistan include a one-off Test in Mullanpur starting June 6, followed by three ODIs scheduled from June 14 across Dharamsala, Lucknow and Chennai.
“Bumrah will be back when we tour England. He is working on his workload,” Agarkar told reporters after the selection meeting here.
Spin bowler Manav Suthar and pacer Gurnoor Brar have earned maiden call-ups to the Test squad. Both are teammates at IPL franchise Gujarat Titans, while Prince Yadav is the new face in the ODI line-up, with Ishan Kishan being the second wicket-keeper.
The squads
Test: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey, Dhruv Jurel.
ODI: Shubman Gill (captain), Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar.
Rishabh Pant dropped from India’s ODI squad for Afghanistan series, loses Test vice-captaincy to Rahul
