Major blow for India as injured Ravindra Jadeja unavailable for England Tests – Report

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been reportedly ruled out of the ongoing four-match Test series against England.

Jadeja, who suffered a thumb injury during the third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) last month, has missed India's last two Tests. The player's recovery is taking more time than expected and there is "no chance" he will be fit for the third and fourth Tests against England, as reported by Cricbuzz.

After dislocating his thumb during the New Year's Test in Sydney, Jadeja was sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for 'further management of his injury' after consolation with a hand specialist. When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had announced India's squad for the first two Tests against England, Jadeja was expected to return for the last two games of the series.

The report has also mentioned that it is still not clear if the 32-year-old all-rounder will regain full fitness before the limited-overs leg, which includes five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

With Jadeja not fit, Washington Sundar is expected to get more chances in the underway Test series against England. Even though he did not perform well with the ball, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder was impressive with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 85 off 138 balls in India's first innings in the recently concluded first Test. The rookie Indian spinners' duo of Washington and Shahbaz Nadeem failed to perform under pressure while bowling and Indian skipper Virat Kohli did not hide his disappointment about the same.

Following India's 227-run loss in the first Test, speaking in a post-match interview, Kohli said that Washington and Nadeem couldn't keep up the pressure that was created by the fast bowlers' duo of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

While Washington may have saved his place because of his contribution with the bat, it is understood that Nadeem is set to be dropped for the second Test as Axar Patel is fully fit for the match.

It was Axar, who had been drafted to make his Test debut in the first Test but a last minute knee injury ruled him out and handed Nadeem his only second appearance in the whites for Team India.

Axar has regained his fitness and has begun to train with the squad, as reported by news agency PTI.

"Axar had a minor knee niggle and has already started batting at the nets. He is expected to start bowling during the next couple of days. He was always first choice to play the opening Test but it will depend on skipper Virat Kohli, head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun," a senior BCCI source told PTI on Wednesday.

With the 227-run win, England became the first team to defeat India at Chennai's Chepauk Stadium in a Test since 1999. The tourists are 1-0 up in the ongoing four-match series, with the second Test due to begin on Feb. 13.