KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav out of the T20 series against South Africa; Pant to lead India
A day before the much-awaited T20I series between India and South Africa, it was announced that KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav will miss the entire series due to injury. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will lead the Men in Blue for this series and all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been named as his deputy.
Kuldeep Yadav picked up an injury to his right hand while batting in the nets just a few days out from the series. The leg-spinner was about to make his return to the Indian side after a long layoff but it seems that he will have to wait a few months longer.
KL Rahul has missed out due to a groin injury, which has been a recurring theme for the Karnataka batsman. 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.
"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." the BCCI said in a statement.
It further added "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 also clarified in its statement that no further replacements will be added for the two injured players.
Interestingly, Rahul's groin injury has been hampering him for a few months now as he also missed out on the Sri Lanka series due to a similar injury. During the IPL, he went for scans and luckily nothing serious was reported as he played all of the Lucknow Super Giant's matches.
But it was reported that he felt pain in his groin on Wednesday and as a matter of precaution, he has been released from the squad. This puts further doubt on Rahul's involvement in the series against England, which will begin on the 1st of July, where he was appointed as the deputy to Rohit Sharma.
In Rahul's absence, Rishabh Pant has been handed the reins for the series against South Africa. Pant stated that he did not receive the captaincy under ideal circumstances and insisted that the experience of the leading the Delhi Capitals will make the job a bit easier.
"It is a very good feeling, did not come under very good circumstances but at the same time I am feeling happy. I would like to thank the BCCI for giving me this opportunity to lead the Indian side. I will try to make most out of it.
"I think as a captain, it will help me a lot (leading in the IPL) because when you are doing the same thing again and again, you improve. I am someone who keeps learning from his mistakes and I think it will help me in the coming days," he added.
Pant added that the presence of Rahul Dravid, who coached him at Under-19 level, will make a huge difference. "It is one of the best things to have him around. I worked with him in the U-19 days and then I worked him in the Indian team. There is a lot of experience also, he is already a legendary cricketer. There are a lot of learnings from him, there is just a lot to learn from him."