KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav ruled out of India vs SA T20I series

KL Rahul (Source: Twitter)

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 said in a press release on Wednesday (June 8).

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.

The selection committee has not named a replacement for KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav. 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.

NEWS - KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav ruled out of #INDvSA series owing to injury.

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 @Paytm #INDvSA

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 8, 2022

It is understood that Ruturaj Gaikwad will open the batting alongside Ishan Kishan in the series-opener on Thursday (June 9).

Team India are chasing history during the bilateral series - should they win the opening match, they will achieve an all-time record of winning 13 consecutive T20Is. The team is also preparing for the ICC T20 World Cup later in Australia this year.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested from the series. After delivering great performances in IPL 2022, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik got their maiden Team India call-up for the series.

The @Paytm #INDvSA T20I series begins on 9th June. 

Excitement levels 

Take a look at the fixtures  pic.twitter.com/0VZQfdnT84

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 7, 2022

Also, a fully-fit Hardik Pandya makes his return back to the squad. The talented all-rounder enjoyed an excellent season with bat, scoring 487 runs in 15 matches. His spell of 3/17 in the IPL final was a match-winning performance.

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