India lose Sehwag, Sharma for England ODIs

NEW DEHLI: India's woes on the disastrous tour of England worsened on Monday after Virender Sehwag and Ishant Sharma were ruled out of the limited-overs leg due to injuries.

Opening batsman Sehwag and seamer Sharma will return home after the Test series ends later on Monday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.

Sehwag had shoulder surgery in May, which forced him to miss the tour of the West Indies and the first two Tests of the ongoing series.

But BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said it was an ear infection, rather than the shoulder injury, that forced Sehwag out of the England tour.

"Sehwag suffered from labyrinthithis of the left ear," Srinivasan said in the statement. "Although his condition has improved, he continues to experience headaches.

"An ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist, who was consulted on the same, has said that he will take two more weeks to recover completely."

Srinivasan said Sehwag's right shoulder had healed, but that he would continue "rehabilitation to build up his throwing and bowling fitness".

The lanky Sharma sustained a ligament injury in his left ankle during the third Test in Birmingham, Srinivasan said.

"He has responded well to treatment, but will need to undergo a course of intensive rehabilitation and training to prevent recurrence of the pain in his left ankle," the BCCI secretary said.

Sehwag and Sharma will be replaced by two rookies, batsman Ajinkya Rahane and fast bowler Varun Aaron, in the touring squad, Srinivasan said.

Rahane, 23, has been a prolific scorer for Mumbai while 21-year-old Aaron is a promising bowler who hails from Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's home state of Jharkhand.

Opener Gautam Gambhir, who was considered doubtful for the one-dayers after suffering a mild concussion while fielding in the Oval Test on Saturday, was declared fit.

India were depleted by injuries to senior players such as Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar during the Test series, and England won the first three matches by huge margins.

In the process, Andrew Strauss's home team dislodged India as the number one Test side in the official rankings and are well-placed to complete a 4-0 sweep in the ongoing Oval Test.

The limited-overs leg of the tour starts with a Twenty20 international at Manchester on August 31, followed by five one-day matches between September 3 and 16.

With Sehwag ruled out, India are left with just six players from the team that won the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on April 2.

Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Munaf Patel will be the only survivors from the champion team.

Zaheer, Harbhajan and Yuvraj had already been ruled out of the one-dayers, while Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was dropped.

Revised limited-overs squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Varun Aaron, Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh.

Coach: Duncan Fletcher (ZIM).