New Delhi: India suffered a huge blow on the eve of the T20 series against South Africa as skipper KL Rahul was Wednesday ruled out due to an injury. Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who was named as Rahul’s deputy, will lead the side.
“KL is out of whole series and Rishabh Pant will lead the team as he is the designated deputy,” a senior BCCI source informed Thursday. He added that in KL Rahul’s absence Ruturaj Gaikwad will open the batting alongside Ishan Kishan in the series-opener Thursday. It should also be stated here that left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was also ruled out of the series.
Later Wednesday evening, the BCCI issued an official statement. “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 statement said. It added that with Rishabh Pant’s elevation as captain, Hardik Pandya has been named his deputy.
The BCCI however, did not name a replacement either for KL Rahul or Yadav.
Pant had led the Delhi Capitals team in the recently-concluded IPL-2022. However, he really did not impress with his captaincy.
The 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 and Umran Malik.