Team India’s priority has been to strengthen their reserve bench ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, more than winning the five-match T20I series versus South Africa — India will now be led by Rishabh Pant — that begins on Thursday in New Delhi.

A sudden jolt in the form of captain KL Rahul and in-form spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s injuries means that the Indian team management needs to think afresh about the combinations and plans that had been chalked out against the Proteas.

While Temba Bavuma-led South Africa are at full strength, Rahul has been ruled out of the series with a right groin injury and Kuldeep got hit on his right hand while batting during Tuesday’s nets.

Obviously, Rahul’s unavailability implies more opportunities at the top of the order for Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan, both of whom weren’t too consistent in this year’s IPL. But with the selectors not announcing any replacements, it appears that the duo are likely to open for India, as the current squad too doesn’t feature any other specialist opener.

Alongside Gaikwad, Kishan and Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal appear to be the automatic choices in the XI. But what about the other four slots?

Deepak Hooda, since his India debut this February, has been reasonably consistent. Senior ’keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was one of the best finishers in the IPL, which was key to his India recall. Head coach Rahul Dravid then termed him “a point of difference in whichever teams he has played over the last two-three years”, given his exploits at the back-end of the innings.

It does suggest that if required, Karthik can play just as a specialist batsman.

Among the bowlers, alongside Bhuvneshwar and Chahal, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel and Axar Patel could be preferred, while the likes of Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh may have to wait for their turn.

‘Ready for challenge’

The decision to appoint Pant as captain underlines the team management’s faith in him. But, still Dravid & Co. would hope the 24-year-old doesn’t bungle, especially when going for a review like he did on occasions in the IPL.

Pant, set for his India captaincy debut at the Kotla, his home ground, is ready for the challenge. “Having led Delhi Capitals, it will help me a lot. Doing the same thing over a period of time, you tend to improve and I’m someone who keeps on learning from mistakes,” he asserted.