Named Test skipper, KL Rahul joins Gavaskar & Azhar on this unique list

Indian cricketer KL Rahul etched a unique mark in history when he was named captain of the team in the second Test against South Africa at Johannesburg on Monday (January 3).

This is the first time Rahul is leading the Indian team in any format of the game.

Interestingly, Rahul is captaining India in the Test side ahead of the captaincy in ODIs or T20, a unique distinction he shares with a few other greats such as Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammed Azharuddin, Bishan Singh Bedi, Ajit Wadekar and others.

KL Rahul, who was the stand-in vice-captain of the team, was named the stand-in captain after Virat Kohli suffered an upper back spasm ahead of the second Test. Kohli was ruled out of the game and Rahul took his place. The move comes after vice-captain Rohit Sharma was rested for the Test series.

“It is every Indian player’s dream to captain his country. Really honored and looking forward to this challenge. We have had a few good wins here and hopefully we’ll look to continue that. Hanuma Vihari comes in place of Virat. Just the one change. It was a good Test at Centurion overall. We really performed well as a team and are really excited about this match,” he said.

Hanuma Vihari comes in place of Kohli. Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been named the vice-captain of the team in the match.

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India is looking at a rare and historic series win in South Africa. The visitors had beaten the hosts in the first Test by 130 runs at Centurion, on the back of a solid century by none other than Rahul.

Gavaskar was all praise for Rahul and has said that the under-achiever would go on to rain centuries.

“He has always been a very very talented cricketer. Perhaps, he might agree with me that after he made his debut in 2016-17 (2014) and then those two or three years in between, he might have been an underachiever. But now that he has got his mojo back, now that he has got his confidence back, I expect him to rain centuries after centuries because he has got his hunger,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.