Australia starter David Warner has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests against India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
For the uninitiated, the 36-year-old suffered a concussion after the first innings of the second Test after taking a hit to the helmet while facing Mohammed Siraj. X-rays confirmed that the left-hander had also suffered a small fracture in his elbow. Matt Renshaw replaced him in the second innings for Australia.
In a statement, Cricket Australia said:
“David Warner has been ruled out of Qantas’ test tour of India and will return home. Warner took a knock to his elbow in the second test in Delhi and suffered a small fracture.”
Warner will undergo rehabilitation to recover from his injury. However, he is expected to return for the three-match ODI series against India in March.
“After further assessment, he will require a rehabilitation period which will preclude any further participation in the remainder of the Test series. He is currently scheduled to return to India for the three one-day internationals that follow the Test series.” added the statement.
Australia already lost fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a sore Achilles tendon. Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green are on the road to recovery after missing the first two Tests with finger injuries.
Indian and Australian squadrons for the remaining two tests
Australian Squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Swepson.
Indian squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav , Jaydev Unadkat.
The remaining two tests will be played in Indore (March 1-5) and Ahmedabad (March 9-13), respectively. The India team have taken a 2-0 series lead, having won the first Test by an innings and 132 runs and the second Test by six wickets respectively.