India suffered a huge blow ahead of third Test against England with Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh being ruled out of the series.
Virat Kohli and Pragyan Ojha have been called upon as replacements for the respective duo, BCCI said in a statement.
"While Yuvraj Singh's injury may take around 4 weeks to recover, Harbhajan Singh is likely to recover in 3 weeks' time," BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said.
"The all-India senior selection committee has picked Virat Kohli and Pragyan Ojha as their replacements. Both players will join the Indian team at the earliest," he added.
Yuvraj suffered a fracture on his left index finger on the fourth day of the second Test after being rapped on his gloves by a short-pitched delivery from Tim Bresnan. The injury is expected to take atleast four weeks to heal, meaning that Yuvraj is unlikely to participate for most part of the ODI series as well.
Earlier, Harbhajan Singh was ruled out of the 3rd Test to be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, starting on the 10th after he sustained a grade 1 tear on his stomach.
Harbhajan Singh sustained the injury during the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge and only managed to bowl a total of 13.2 overs, including just 9 in the second innings as India were effectively reduced to a 3-man bowling attack.
Harbhajan Singh has struggled for form right throughout the first two Tests at Lord's and Trent Bridge where he ended with match figures of 1/218 and 1/69 respectively. With India missing their pace ace Zaheer Khan, much was expected of Harbhajan, but he has flattered to deceive leaving the bowling responsibilities to the inexperienced trio of Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth. There have been calls by many cricketing experts to axe him for his poor form and this injury might just give Amit Mishra an opportunity at Edgbaston, unless the team management decides to go in with a four-pronged pace attack.
There was better news though for India with Virender Sehwag expected to join the fully fit Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order for the 2 day practice match against Northamptonshire, starting on the 5th.
There is no news as yet about the fitness of Zaheer Khan, though he did have a light practice session at the end of the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge.
