The injury-ravaged Indian team was dealt another blow on Tuesday as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the fourth Test against Australia due to an abdominal strain.
Bumrah, key to India's attack, sustained the strain during the drawn third Test in Sydney.
India are already without its key bowlers Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. With Bumrah out of the team, Indian pace attack will be in the hands of newbies like Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini, both of whom made their debut in the ongoing series against Australia.
It has been learnt that Bumrah's scan reports showed a strain and the Indian team management does not want him to aggravate the injury, keeping in mind the upcoming four-Test series against England.
"Jasprit Bumrah suffered an abdominal strain while fielding in Sydney. He is going to sit out of the Brisbane Test but is expected to be available against England," a BCCI source told PTI.
It is now expected that two-Test old Siraj will be leading the Indian attack and will be joined by Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan in the Brisbane Test, starting January 15.
Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja was also ruled out of the fourth Test after he suffered a blow to his left thumb while batting on Day 3 of the third Border-Gavaskar Test that concluded on Monday.
He later went for scans and the results have shown that he has dislocated his thumb.
Jadeja will not be available for the fourth and final Test against Australia to be held in Brisbane from January 15-19 at the Gabba, the BCCI said.
(With PTI inputs)
