IND vs SA: KL Rahul Ruled Out Of T20I Series, Rishabh Pant Named Captain, Hardik Pandya Vice-Captain

India National Cricket Team have suffered a major blow ahead of the five-match T20I series against the South Africa National Cricket Team as captain KL Rahul has been ruled out of the entire T20I series at home after suffering a groin injury.

KL Rahul, who recently led the debutants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, did a decent job as a skipper and his team finished at the No.3 spot on the points table.

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KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants faced off Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator and lost the match to get knocked out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Rahul was appointed as the skipper of the Indian team for the home T20I series against South Africa in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the 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”

“Team India Captain KL Rahul has been ruled out of the T20I series against South Africa owing to a right groin injury,” 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.@Paytm #INDvSA

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 8, 2022

Along with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have also been rested for the South Africa series and they will directly travel to England for the all-format tour.

Rishabh Pant To Lead India In KL Rahul’s Absence, Hardik Pandya Named Vice-Captain

Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who is the skipper of Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was named as the vice-captain for the home series against South Africa.

With Rahul getting ruled out of the entire series his deputy, Rishabh Pant, will step up and lead the Indian team in the five-match T20I series against the strong Temba Bavuma-led South Africa National Cricket Team.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya, who led the newcomers GT to the Indian Premier League 2022 triumph, has been named as deputy of Pant for the five-match T20I 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 @Paytm #INDvSA,” BCCI tweeted.

The first match of the five-match T20 International (T20I) series between the India National Cricket Team and South Africa National Cricket Team will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, June 9.

Complete India, South Africa T20I Squads For Series:

India: Rishabh Pant (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.

Complete Schedule Of India vs South Africa T20I Series:

1st T20I – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

2nd T20I – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

3rd T20I – Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam

4th T20I – Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

5th T20I – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Also Read: IND vs SA: Hardik Pandya Is A Complete Package If He Bowls His Full Quota Of Overs: Parthiv Patel

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