On the eve of the first T20I against South Africa, Team India suffered a big setback as designated captain KL Rahul and wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav got ruled out of the series due to their respective injuries.

Rishabh Pant, who was initially appointed as Rahul’s deputy, will now lead the home team in the five-T20I series, starting June 9 in Delhi.

“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,” BCCI said in a statement.

“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,” it added.

No replacement has been named in the squad for Rahul and Kuldeep, who will now report to the National; Cricket Academy (NCA) to nurse their injuries.

“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,” BCCI further said.

Notably, Team India are already without the services of their senior players in this series. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested ahead of the much-awaited England tour.

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