Gambhir on 'massive blow' for India: He just became vice-captain

|Shiksha Dev|THE DEN|

Gambhir believes Rohit Sharma's absence ahead of the tour is a "massive blow" to the team. In the team's net session on Monday, Rohit, the newly appointed Test vice-captain, resurfaced an old left-hamstring injury that has ruled him out of the entire three-Test series against SA. While the BCCI hasn't named a stand-in vice-captain, KL Rahul is expected to do so, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Rishabh Pant being the other two candidates. While Rohit is out, India A captain Priyank Panchal is set to replace him.

The vice-captain of Team India's Test team was injured yesterday in Mumbai while practicing. He has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa. In a press release, BCCI announced that Pryank Panchal would replace Rohit Sharma in the Test squad.

Gambhir, who played over 50 Tests for India, said Rohit's absence will be an opportunity for the Panchal. Panchal, a 31-year-old First-class player with 100 matches experience, has scored over 7000 runs, including 24 centuries and 25 fifties.