KL Rahul, who has been appointed India captain for the five-match T20I series against South Africa, suffered a groin injury, while Kuldeep Yadav injured his hand. As a result, Rishabh Pant will lead the side, with Hardik Pandya announced as the vice-captain.
The Men in Blue have been hit with injuries ahead of the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Rahul, who was appointed as the captain of the side in Rohit Sharma’s absence, would feel unfortunate with yet another untimely injury.
The Lucknow Super Giants captain picked up a right groin injury, and Kuldeep Yadav was struck on his right hand while batting in the nets at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, where the first T20I will be played on Thursday.
Rishabh Pant, who was a designated vice-captain for this series, will lead the side. Hardik Pandya, who recently led Gujarat Titans to an IPL trophy in their debut season, has been named as the vice-captain.
This will be Pant’s first time as the captain in international cricket but the 24-year-old has enough experience, having led Delhi Capitals in 30 IPL matches, winning 17 and losing 13.
Speaking in the press conference ahead of the first T20I, he expressed his excitement to lead India in his hometown of Delhi. Pant hinted that India will be playing a different brand of cricket with an eye on the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
“It’s a great feeling, especially getting an opportunity like this in your hometown. There is nothing bigger than this. It didn’t come under very good circumstances but I will try to make the most of it and give my 100%.
I think it [having captained in the IPL] will help me a lot because when you keep doing the same thing over a period of time, you tend to improve.
As a team, we have certain goals that we want to achieve and we are continuously working on them. At the end of the day, we have the World Cup at the back of our minds, so we are preparing with an eye on that. In the coming days, you will see a lot of changes in the way we play our cricket,”
the player said.
The BCCI stated in a release that Rahul and Kuldeep will be further assessed at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. The management hasn’t named any replacement players for the injured duo.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is likely to pair alongside Ishan Kishan at the top of the order in the absence of Rahul. In the spin department, India have a few quality options available in Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel.
Rahul’s injury comes at a critical time for Rahul as well as India, with the tour of England fast approaching. India are to play a one-off Test against England from July 1 as a part of the five-match Pataudi Trophy, which was cut short due to Covid-19 last year.
Rahul is a key part of the Test side as one of the two openers. He was excellent in England last year with 315 runs in eight innings and was the second-highest run-getter in the series behind Rohit.
The frequency of injuries for Rahul is also a huge concern for the team management. He missed the two-Test home series against New Zealand last November due to a left thigh strain.
In February, a hamstring injury kept him out of the T20 series against West Indies and also missed out on the following series against Sri Lanka in the lead up to the IPL.
