Sundar has been forced to withdraw from the England tour due to a fractured finger

New Delhi: The Indian team in England was dealt another injury blow on Thursday when Washington Sundar, a spin bowling all-rounder, was ruled out of the five-Test series that starts on August 4.

After Shubman Gill and Avesh Khan, Sundar is the third player to be ruled out of the tour.

Sundar is said to have fractured a finger after getting struck by a ball on the second day of India’s first-class warm-up game against County XI.

“Yes, Washy has a shattered finger, similar to Avesh’s dislocated thumb. Both have completed the Test series and will return home “On condition of anonymity, a top BCCI official told PTI.

“He’ll take at least five weeks to get back into bowling, so there’s no use in keeping them here,” the insider added.

While Sundar or Avesh were not regulars in the first squad, they were important net bowlers, and the Tamil Nadu all-rounder would have been in the mix at some time during the series.

“It’s a cruel irony that both Avesh and Washington were injured while playing for the opponent. However, this is a sport, and injuries are a part of life “Added the source.

The replacements will be announced soon, and it will be interesting to see if Navdeep Saini or Bhuneshwar Kumar replace Avesh when the Sri Lanka series is over.

In case of Sundar, the like for like replacement is Krishnappa Gowtham.