KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav ruled out of IND vs SA T20I; BCCI announces new captain

KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav ruled out of IND vs SA T20I; BCCI announces new captain

Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul

Indian skipper KL Rahul, on Wednesday, ruled out of the five-match T20I series against South Africa, which will began on June 9. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav will also be unavailable for the series. Both the players have suffered injuries while practicing in the nets at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

Rahul and Kuldeep’s replacements are yet not named. Both will now report to the National Cricket Academy(NCA) where medical team will decide their future treatment. KL Rahul was appointed captain in the absence of India’s regular captain Rohit Sharma. Rohit, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami are given rest ahead of a hectic schedule.

BCCI declared Rishabh Pant as the captain and Hardik Pandya (who captained the IPL 2022 winning team Gujarat Titans) as the vice-captain. BCCI shared took to Twitter to share the news.

“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.” See BCCI’s post below:

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KL Rahul’s injury is a major concern

KL Rahul
KL Rahul

India now will be without their regular opener KL Rahul, Kohli and Rohit (their top three). And Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Venkatesh Iyer are to open the innings.

KL Rahul is also part of the fifth England Test which will start (from July 1 to5 in Birmingham) after the T20I series. His injury will be a cause of concern then as well as the team management because the Test is also part of the World Test Championship and a part of the five-match Pataudi Trophy. The match was cut short after because of the pandemic. Also Rahul was the second-highest-run-scorer (315 in eight innings and is behind Rohit’s 368) in those Tests.

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