K.L. Rahul has been ruled out of India's five-match T20I series against South Africa, starting June 9, with injuries. Rahul had been appointed captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was rested for the series. Stand-in vice-captain Rishabh Pant will lead India for the first time, while Hardik Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans to IPL glory in their maiden appearance, has been named vice-captain.
Kuldeep Yadav was hit on the hand while batting in the nets as well. His injury is being assessed. Rahul, too, is likely to open batting with Rohit when India play England in Old Trafford next month.
India squad: Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik.
The matches will be played on 9 June (in Delhi), 12 June (Cuttack), 14 June (Visakhapatnam), 17 June (Rajkot), and 19 June (Bengaluru).