India's Rahul out of Australia series with sprained wrist

SYDNEY: India's injury-hit squad suffered a further blow Tuesday when experienced wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul was ruled out of the rest of the series against Australia with a sprained left wrist.

The right-hander hurt himself while batting in the nets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during a practice session on Saturday after India won the second Test by eight wickets.

India's cricket board said he 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".

The 28-year-old, who has played 36 Tests but was left out for both the Adelaide and Melbourne Tests, will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to recover.

It is a further setback for the tourists who started the four-Test series without injured leading fast bowler Ishant Sharma and experienced batsman Rohit Sharma.

They have since lost two more pacemen, Mohammed Shami (arm) and Umesh Yadav (calf), although Sharma rejoined the squad last week and could make his return in the third Test in Sydney starting Thursday.

The series is locked at 1-1 after Australia won by eight wickets in Adelaide before India bounced back in Melbourne, clinching victory by the same margin.