South Africa vs India 2018: Team India playing without a vice-captain
What's the story?
After giving the Sri Lanka limited-overs series a miss, Virat Kohli has returned at the helm of affairs for India with the ongoing Test series. However, he has no deputy with him to call the shots, with the team functioning without a captain for a second consecutive Test.
"We did not designate a vice-captain either for the Newlands Test or for the ongoing one at the SuperSport Park. Traditionally, the captain asks the senior-most player to take charge if he has to leave the field for any reason whatsoever. That said, it is not mandatory that seniority is the sole criteria to appoint somebody as an acting No.2," chief selector MSK Prasad, who is in South Africa for the three-Test series, told The Telegraph.
In case you didn't know...
India are currently 1-0 down in the three-match Test series, having already lost the opening game at Cape Town by 72 runs. Captain Kohli has persisted with Rohit Sharma in the middle-order, with Ajinkya Rahane, the designated deputy to Kohli, not making it to the side based on merit.
The heart of the matter
According to MSK Prasad, seniority is taken into consideration when choosing the captain's deputy. In the current team's case, Parthiv Patel has been part of the international circuit for 15 years now, while Ishant Sharma is the most experienced in terms of matches played.
Ravichandran Ashwin is also another option for the role of the vice-captain, whereas Murali Vijay, who has played 54 Tests till date, also one of the candidates.
Rohit Sharma, who has replaced Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian team, and is the No.2 in limited-overs, is also a vice-captaincy option if he does retain his spot in the side.
What's next?
With the short Test series already halfway through, India will be pushing to extract a result from the second Test to prevent the final game from being a dead rubber.
Author's take
The role of a vice-captain in cricket is an underrated one: to the outsider, the direct involvement might be seen only when the captain leaves the field, but his role is much more. From assisting in field placements to giving his inputs on bowling options and tactical changes, the vice-captain can be a handy asset.
In Rahane's absence, Ravichandran Ashwin or Rohit Sharma seem to be ideal choices as Kohli's deputy: while Ashwin is known to have an astute cricketing brain, Rohit has the experience of captaining the side and has been immensely successful in the same role for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.