Injured KL Rahul ruled out of South Africa T20Is, Pant to lead India

New Delhi: Captain KL Rahul and spinner Kuldeep Yadav on Wednesday were ruled out of India’s T20I series against South Africa, beginning here on June 9, due to injuries.

Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant will lead India in Rahul’s absence while Hardik Pandya has been named the vice-captain for the home series against South Africa.

“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 BCCI said in a statement.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant as Captain and Hardik Pandya as vice-captain for the home series against South Africa,” it added.

However, the selection committee has not named a replacement for Rahul and Kuldeep. Both the cricketers will now report to the NCA where the medical team will assess them further and decide on the future course of treatment.

India’s T20I squad: Rishabh Pant (Captain)(wk), 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, Umran Malik