IND vs SA 2022: Rishabh Pant named captain of Team India, Hardik Pandya is vice-captain

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India wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is all set to captain the Indian cricket team in the T20I series against South Africa as KL Rahul, who was supposed to lead the Indian side has been ruled out of the series due to injury. Chairman spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been ruled out of the five-match T20I series. 

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

Rahul suffered a right groin injury while Kuldeep Yadav was hit on his right hand while batting in the nets last evening. In the statement, BCCI revealed that Pant will be the captain of the side while Hardik Pandya will be his deputy. 

"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," the BCCI statement read. 

Meanwhile, Pant has the experience of captaining a T20 side as he has been leading the Delhi Capitals for the last two years. Pant was named the captain after the 2020 season as Shreyas Iyer was recovering from injury. Under his leadership, DC finished at the top in the points table in 2021 but failed to qualify for IPL 2022 playoffs.  

On other hand, Hardik Pandya is coming into this series on the back of a superb captaincy stint with Gujarat Titans in their debut season of IPL where he guided the side to its maiden IPL title. It will be a great experience for Pant and Pandya to lead the side. 

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