JUST IN: KL Rahul Ruled Out Of T20I Series Against South Africa; Rishabh Pant To Lead Team India

With just a little more than 24 hours to go for the first T20I between India and South Africa but team India has suffered a setback ahead of the 1st match. In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul was named as the captain to lead the side but due to an injury, the batter has been ruled out of the entire 5-match series. 

With KL Rahul being unavailable, young Rishabh Pant, who was named the vice-captain of the team, is likely to lead the Indian side against South Africa for 5-match T20I series. Moreover, one of the opening slots has also been vacated and it'd be interesting to see who fills the ace batter's spot. 

While IPL 2022-winning captain Hardik Pandya will be the vice-captain of the team. Along with KL Rahul, spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who made his comeback through an impressive performance in the IPL 2022, has also been ruled out due to an injury, and the wrist-spinner would have to wait a little longer to play in the blue jersey again. 

No replacements have been named yet for either of the injured players. The first T20I between India and South Africa is set to start on June 9th (Thursday) at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Both teams would be looking to start the series off with a win. 

Indian T20I team vs South Africa: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (Captain & wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhunveshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.