KL Rahul ruled out of remaining series against Australia after injuring wrist

India batsman KL Rahul has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests against Australia after sustaining a wrist injury during training in Melbourne, the BCCI said on Tuesday. Rahul had not played any match of the ongoing series in which the third Test starts on Thursday here.

"KL Rahul sprained his left wrist while batting in the nets at the MCG during Team India's practice session on Saturday," the BCCI said in a statement. "The wicketkeeper-batsman will not be available for the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he will need about three weeks time to recover completely and regain full strength," it added.

Rahul has returned to India and will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for rehabilitation. The injury also puts him in doubt for the four-match home Test series against England, which begins February 5.

Earlier, Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were also ruled out of the remaining two test matches in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. The team management had replaced the two bowlers with Shardul Thakur and Thangarasu Natarajan.

Australia and India have each won one test match in the series so far. Two more matches are yet to be played, with the third match set to begin in Sydney on January 7. India suffered a humiliating defeat in the first test in Adelaide. In Melbourne, in the second test match, India registered a roaring come-back against Australia, scripting a dominant win. Indian skipper Virat Kohli also departed to India after the first test to be with his wife during child-birth. The team now is being led by Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma has been announced as the vice-captain for the rest of the series. The Indian opening batsman completed his quarantine recently after flying in late to Australia and will be available for playing from the third Test match.