Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been named vice-captain of the team for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies which will begin from 16 February at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. BCCI announced Rishabh Pant’s vice-captaincy after KL Rahul got ruled out of the series against WI.

India’s wicket-keeper batsmen Rishabh Pant has been named the vice-captain for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies. The three-match series is scheduled to begin in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens from February 16, 2021. The announcement regarding Rishabh Pant’s elevation was made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a press release as KL Rahul has been ruled out of the series. This is the first time that Rishabh Pant will be a part of the leadership group of the Indian team for a series.

Earlier, T20I opening batsmen KL Rahul had been named the vice-captain. However, due to his injury, Rishabh Pant is set to take over the role. In the press release, it was also announced that all-rounder Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the series and Kuldeep Yadav has been named his replacement. 

India after winning the ODI series under Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy 3-0 will be looking to extend their winning run in the upcoming series. 

However, the West Indies will be looking to make a statement after the humiliation that they suffered in the ODIs. The visitors gave a solid performance in the last T20I series that they played against England which they won 3-2.

India’s T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain) (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav.