England cricket team suffered a massive blow to their campaign here in India on Sunday as lead spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of the remaining three Tests due to a knee injury.
Leach sustained the injury during England’s first Test victory in Hyderabad and missed the second Test in Vizag as a result.
He will fly home from Abu Dhabi in the next 24 hours, where the England team have been staying ahead of the third Test in Rajkot, which starts on Thursday.
"Leach will work closely with the England and Somerset medical teams in respect of his rehabilitation. England will not be calling up a replacement," the ECB said in a statement.
How Leach got injured
The left-arm spinner sustained an injury to his left knee while fielding on the first day of the Hyderabad Test when he dove to prevent a boundary, resulting in a collision with the ground. Unfortunately, the injury was further aggravated on the following morning.
Due to significant swelling in the knee, the 32-year-old found it challenging to move freely. Consequently, he was limited to delivering only four-over spells for the remainder of the Test.
Despite this restriction, Leach managed to bowl 26 overs in the first innings but could only contribute 10 overs in the second. Notably, he still played a pivotal role in dismissing Shreyas Iyer, contributing to England's victory by 28 runs.
Regrettably, the lack of improvement in his condition led to his exclusion from the second Test in Visakhapatnam, where India emerged victorious to level the series. Leach had picked a couple of wickets in the first Test.
India also missing crucial players
India meanwhile, will also be without key players in the next game in Rajkot. Former captain Virat Kohli has pulled out of the rest of the series after missing the first two Tests due to personal reasons while Shreyas Iyer has been dropped.
There are question marks over the availability of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja even though they have been included in the Indian squad for the remaining Tests. Rahul is recovering from a quad strain while Jadeja had injured his hamstring in the first Test. Both had missed the game in Vizag.
