IND vs SA: KL Rahul ruled out of entire series, Rishabh Pant to captain team against Proteas

Indian skipper KL Rahul and spinner Kuldeep Yadav were on Wednesday ruled out of the five-match T20 International series against South Africa due to injuries.

Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who was named as Rahul's deputy, will lead the side. 

BCCI in an official statement said that KL Rahul has been ruled out of the series 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 on Tuesday evening.

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 statement said. 

Rishabh Pant named India's new captain for South Africa series

The selection committee has not named a replacement for KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav. 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.

It is understood that Ruturaj Gaikwad will open the batting alongside Ishan Kishan in the series-opener on Thursday.

With T20 World Cup in mind, India begin auditions for select spots

The Men in Blue are on a 12-match winning streak and come Thursday, they can create an all-time record of winning 13 T20I games in a row. 

However, for head coach Rahul Dravid, the primary aim over the next 10 days will be to narrow down on a core group of players going into the World Cup in October.  And he couldn't have hoped for a better opposition than a gritty South African side which has seen its stock rise recently. Dravid has also made it clear that it will be difficult to provide game time to all the available payers.

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.

South Africa's T20I squad: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), 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. 

(With PTI inputs)