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Cricket PlayersKL Rahul ruled out of India vs South Africa T20I series, Rishabh Pant to lead
KL Rahul, India's stand-in captain for the five-match T20I series against South Africa, has been ruled out due to an injury. The development takes place a day before the series opener in New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday, and in his absence, Rishabh Pant will be leading the team.
KL Rahul, India's stand-in captain for the five-match T20I series against South Africa, has been ruled out due to a groin injury. The development takes place a day before the series opener in New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday, and in Rahul's absence, Rishabh Pant will be leading the team. Besides Rahul, left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav too is out injured after he copped a blow to his right hand while batting Tuesday evening and will take no part in any of the five matches. In another interesting announcement, the BCCI named Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain for the series.
"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 BCCI tweeted.
"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."
Rahul did not take part in India's practice session on either Tuesday or Wednesday. He did however turn up for the first optional net session on Monday, where he batted mostly against spinners. Rahul looked impressive as he played against Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel, and played the sweeps and the lofted strokes with ease and rather disdain. With Rahul out, Ruturaj Gaikwad is expected to open the batting for India with Ishan Kishan. No replacements have been named and both Rahul and Kuldeep will head to the NCA where the medical team will assess them, monitor their fitness and decide on the further course of treatment.
This is the second time in four months that Rahul has sustained an injury. In February, he was ruled out of the three-match T20I series against West Indies after doing damage to his left hamstring - picking up a strain on its upper part - while fielding during the second ODI. As for Kuldeep, the timing of the blow couldn't have come at a worse time as the series marked provided him a brilliant platform to continue his wonderful exploits from the IPL, where he grabbed 21 wickets for Delhi Capitals. With Kuldeep injured, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel will shoulder the bulk of the spin bowling responsibilities.
Pant's captaincy has been highly talked about since he led Delhi Capitals to the IPL Playoffs last year and he would be get a fair chance to provide a case for himself. Pant, 24, is one of the candidates to replace Rohit Sharma as the next captain but faces competition from Rahul, and Hardik. Under Rahul, India got drubbed in South Africa earlier this year, losing the ODI series 0-3. Even when he led India in the second Test in Johannesburg in Virat Kohli's absence, India ended up on the losing side.
Hardik's appointment augurs well for the all-rounder. With Pant, his name has been floating around as well as a potential successor to Rohit, more so after he led Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title in their maiden and his debut season as captain.
