IND vs SA 2022: KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav ruled out of T20I series, Rishabh Pant named captain

KL Rahul, who was all set to lead India in the five-match T20I series against South Africa, has been ruled out due to injury. Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been ruled out due to an injury. Both of these players were in prolific form in the recently concluded Tata IPL and it’s a big blow to the team.

While KL Rahul has been ruled out with a right groin injury, Kuldeep Yadav picked an injury while batting in the nets. The BCCI selection committee hasn’t named any replacements yet for the duo. Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has been named as captain whereas Hardik Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans to triumph in IPL 2022, has been picked as the vice-captain.

“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 further said in the release.

KL Rahul did not take part in practice session on Tuesday.

“He felt pain and he was checked on Wednesday morning. The team management decided that as a measure of precaution, as well keeping the England series in mind, he will be withdrawn from the South Africa series,” said a source in the knowledge of the development.

Meanwhile, Rahul’s groin injury has been recurring as he had also missed the series against West Indies and Sri Lanka due to the same injury. It is to be seen whether he will regain fitness for the series against England, in which he has been named as Rohit Sharma’s deputy for the one-off Test.

KL Rahul was the second-highest run-getter of IPL 2022 as he amassed 616 runs in 15 matches at an average of 51.33 and a strike rate of 135.38 while leading Lucknow Super Giants. On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav had also returned back to form as he had scalped 21 wickets in 14 matches for Delhi Capitals.

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.