KL Rahul reveals why India named Pujara as vice-captain ahead of Pant in 1st Test vs BAN

After losing the three-match ODI series 2-1 against Bangladesh, they will lock horns with each other in two Tests starting on December 14 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram. India's skipper Rohit Sharma, who got injured in the second ODI, has been ruled out of the first test.

On Monday, the BCCI announced the squad for the first test, making some really big calls. In the absence of Rohit, it will be KL Rahul who will lead the team, but the BCCI has named veteran Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara as the vice-captain in the first test.

That too in the presence of Rishabh Pant. That decision didn't go well with some fans, who slammed the BCCI on various social media platforms. However, the stand-in captain, Rahul, has also broken his silence over the reason why Pujara was picked as vice captain ahead of Pant.

Notably, the wicketkeeper-batsman was among the candidates, along with Rahul and ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who were on the radar for India's next captains. On the other hand, Pujara was not even part of any discussion and was even dropped from the test team for two tests against Sri Lanka at home in March.

Pujara made his comeback in the one-off rescheduled test against England in July, and it was Pant, who was the vice-captain of the team. Thus, the decision to name Pujara as vice captain was criticized by the fans.

On Monday, Rahul clarified the reason behind the decision and said that any decision will not change the responsibility of the players. He also admitted that he himself doesn't know the criteria for picking the vice captain.

Rahul said, "I at least don't know what the criteria is, whoever is picked you give yourself a pat on your back. Rishabh and Puji both have been brilliant for us, and have done the job so many times. Itna jada sochte nahin hai jo hai (We don't really think that much), he tries to take the responsibility. We carry on as a team."

Meanwhile, due to injuries, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja are the other two players who have been ruled out. Abhimanyu Easwaran has replaced Rohit, while Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Jaydev Unadkat have been added to the squad.