KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav Ruled Out Of T20 Series Against South Africa, Rishabh Pant To Lead

IND vs SA T20: KL Rahul was appointed as the captain of the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa beginning in New Delhi on Thursday.

KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav

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IND vs SA T20: India captain KL Rahul and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was on Wednesday ruled out of the T20 series against South Africa due to injuries, BCCI said. KL Rahul was appointed as the captain of the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa beginning in New Delhi on Thursday.

Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who was named as Rahul's deputy, will captain the side. Hardik Pandya has been named as vice-captain for the series. "Rishabh Pant will lead the team as he is the designated deputy," a senior BCCI source told PTI.

"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," BCCI tweeted.

It is understood that Ruturaj Gaikwad will open the batting alongside Ishan Kishan in the first match on Thursday.

After the first T20I in New Delhi, the teams will travel to Cuttack for the second match on June 12, Vizag on June 14, Rajkot on June 17, and Bengaluru on June 19 to conclude the series.

Rahul recently led Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs in IPL 2022 and was their leading run-scorer, scoring 616 runs in 15 matches at an average of 51.33. He hit two centuries and four half centuries and looked in supreme touch in the tournament even though he faced criticism from some quarters over his low strike rate.

The Indian side is without key players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November this year, India will be looking to finalise their squad and offer a chance to newbies to showcase their skillsets.

India's squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.

South Africa's squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.