Injury woes rule Rohit out of entire England series

Injury woes continued to dog Rohit Sharma, who was ruled out today from the entire five-Test series against England, which commences on November 9 at Rajkot, because of a thigh injury which may need even a surgery.

Rohit, who played in the preceding three-Test rubber versus New Zealand, sustained an injury to his right thigh during the fifth and final ODI against the same opposition on October 29 at Visakhapatnam.

The Mumbai stroke player has been ruled out of the entire Test series as he will need at least 6-8 weeks to recover and may even need surgery after assessment, according to chief selector M S K Prasad.

"Yes, unfortunately we have all seen on TV that Rohit Sharma is badly injured. And there is scope of surgical intervention, there is a chance (that) he is going to be assessed in England. In case it is required he might have to undergo a surgery," Prasad told a media conference after the selection committee meeting today to pick the Test squad.

"(We are) definitely not (considering) him for the Test series. In case he does not require a surgical intervention, then 6-8 weeks (for recovery) and if it (surgery) is required then it could be more," Prasad said.

"It was somewhere close to the hip (or) leg. It's on the upper thigh region (of the right leg)," the chief selector added.

"The thigh muscle tendon has been injured for which he will be assessed by the specialists (in England)," intervened Dr M V Sridhar, BCCI's general manager, cricket operations.

Injuries have upset Sharma's Test career in the past too. In 2010, the Mumbaikar was all set to make his Test debut against Australia at Nagpur when he twisted his ankle while playing football with other team members just half an hour before the toss. Wriddhiman Saha made his Test debut as a pure batsman.

He missed the distinction and had to wait for three years before making his Test debut at Kolkata against West Indies in November 2013.

Till date, the Nagpur-born batsman has played in 21 Tests and amassed 1,184 runs. The 29-year-old right-handed batsman, who has played in 153 ODIs, holds the record for the highest score by any batsman in ODIs, when he stroked his way to an amazing 264 versus Sri lanka at Kolkata in November 2014.