Skipper KL Rahul Ruled Out of T20I Series Against SA Due to Injury, Pant To Lead

Rahul's deputy, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is set to lead the Indian side against the Proteas.

KL Rahul was ruled out of the five-match T20 International series against South Africa

(Photo: PTI)

Indian batter KL Rahul, who was to lead the team in the absence of captain Rohit Sharma, was ruled out of the five-match T20 International series against South Africa due to a right groin injury, a BCCI press release said on Wednesday, 8 June. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been ruled out of the series.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee decided that Rahul's deputy, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will lead the Indian side against the Proteas while recent IPL winning skipper Hardik Pandya takes up the role of vice-captain.

The press release said: "Team India Captain KL Rahul has been ruled out of the T20I series against South Africa owing to a right groin injury while Kuldeep Yadav will miss out in the T20I series after getting hit on his right hand while batting in the nets last evening."

The selection committee has named wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant as Captain and Hardik Pandya as vice-captain for the home series against South Africa.

While the selection committee did not name replacements for Rahul and Yadav, both cricketers are set to report to the National Cricket Academy "where the medical team will assess them further and decide on the future course of treatment."

Hardik Pandya had recently led Gujarat Titans to their first IPL title in their debut season.

The Squad for the Series

The Indian squad for the upcoming T20I now consists of Rishabh Pant (captain and wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Umran Malik.