Former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim is surprised with the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to make pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah the vice-captain of the team for the three-match One-day International series against South Africa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The BCCI recently announced the India squad for the ODI series against the Proteas, naming KL Rahul as the skipper of the 18-member side, with newly-appointed skipper Rohit Sharma unavailable due to injury. Rahul, who is currently the vice-captain of the Test team in South Africa, will lead the ODI team in absence of Rohit, while Bumrah will be his deputy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian team is currently in South Africa playing a three-match Test series and have taken a 1-0 lead in the series after a 113-run win in the opening Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Before the announcement of the ODI team, there was speculation that if Rohit is ruled out, either wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant or Shreyas Iyer could get the vice-captain's job because of their IPL captaincy stints. But the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel chose Bumrah.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bumrah has reportedly been rewarded for his consistency in all three formats of the game over the years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I was extremely surprised; I was not expecting Jasprit Bumrah to be made the vice-captain. I was hoping that Rishabh Pant had more chances to be made the vice-captain because he is also a multi-format player, he plays all three formats. Pant's performances as captain of the Delhi Capitals have been very good. We are seeing how he reads the match, he has a lot of game awareness," former national selector Saba Karim told India News on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Saba Karim, while stating that Bumrah was talented, added that the bowler had no captaincy experience at the top level.<\/p>\r\n\r\n