India vs England: Ajinkya Rahane Ruled Out of Series, Mohammed Shami Doubtful for Mumbai Test

India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was on Wednesday ruled out of the remaining two matches against England, with Manish Pandey being added to the Indian squad as his replacement.

"The BCCI medical team confirms that India batsman Ajinkya Rahane sustained an avulsion fracture on his right index finger and has been ruled out for the remaining two Test matches of the series against England. A ball stuck Rahane during the practice session today," The BCCI release said.

"Manish Pandey has been included in the team as a replacement for Rahane," the release added.

Mumbai fast bowler Shardul Thakur was also added to the squad as a back-up for injured Mohammad Shami, who is also nursing a sore knee and is a doubtful starter for the Wankhede Test scheduled to start from Thursday.

"Mumbai medium pacer Shardul Thakur has been called as back-up for India pacer Mohammed Shami, who is nursing a sore knee. The BCCI medical team is closely monitoring his progress and a decision on his participation will be taken before the start of the fourth Test match," the BCCI release said.

The Indian team is battling with injuries in the series with Wriddhiman Saha, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan already out due to injury and KL Rahul has just comeback after missing out on the first and the third Test match against England and also missed most of the series against New Zealand.

Manish Pandey made an impactful return after the finger injury when he scored 75 runs for home team Karnataka against Saurashtra in Group-B Ranji Trophy match and followed it up with another half-century.

Manish Pandey has scored 188 runs in the two matches of the Ranji season he has played so far. The 27-year-old is now an important member of the Team India's One Day International (ODI) side which possibly can be the reason for his inclusion in the Test squad.

Shardul Thakur has taken 13 wickets in six matches of the Ranji trophy matches he has played so far this season. In the last match against Bengal, he tore through their batting with a six-wicket haul in the first innings at Nagpur.

As far his records are concerned, he has played 45 first class matches and taken 155 wickets.

Since they will be part of the Indian squad now for the fourth Test vs England, their state teams are bound to suffer as they were already playing the match for their respective teams.