KL Rahul appointed as Indian team vice-captain with Hardik Pandya out of Cricket World Cup

It is learnt that the selection committee picked Rahul over pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. The wicket-keeper was informed about the decision on Saturday morning by chairman of selection committee, Ajit Agarkar.

India's KL Rahul during a practice session ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and England, at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, in Lucknow, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. (PTI Photo

India's KL Rahul during a practice session ahead of the India and England match in Lucknow. (PTI Photo)

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed KL Rahul as the vice-captain for the Indian team for ongoing Cricket World Cup after Hardik Pandya was ruled out due to an ankle injury.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that Pandya has been ruled out of the World Cup on Saturday morning. The all-rounder, who was was appointed as vice-captain before the World Cup, had missed multiple games after picking up an injury during the game against Bangladesh. However, with Pandya being ruled out from the rest of the tournament, the senior selection committee decided to name Rahul as Rohit Sharma’s deputy.

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“The BCCI has appointed KL Rahul as the vice-captain of the Indian team for the remainder of the World Cup. He was informed about it on Saturday morning by chairman of selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, who is traveling with the team,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.

Rahul, who was attending bowlers meetings as a specialist wicket-keeper will now be attending all team meetings of bowlers and batsmen as the vice-captain and will be consulted by the team management in all key decisions.

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It is learnt that one of the reasons why the selection committee preferred him over pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is that from his vantage point as a wicket-keeper, Rahul can have a better understanding of what is happening during the course of the game.

Rahul has been terrific so far in this World Cup behind the stumps. Recently, during a press conference he had said that he has become more “thick-skinned” since he has started taking professional help to shut out “outside noise.” He also revealed that he had taken a leaf out of the skipper Rohit’s book by not cutting down on social media use over the past few months.

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“I have put a lot of effort into this. I tried to address it. Outside noise for a long time, I thought it won’t affect me, but in the last year or so it started affecting me,” Rahul told reporters in Lucknow.

“I tried to work on that side. Mentally you need to get a lot stronger, a lot more thick-skinned. So yeah, that really helped me being away from the game. There are specialists, batting specialists, bowling specialists, there are specialist mental coaches that you can really use and can work with if you feel that it will help. So, I tried a bit of everything,” he added.