England's Zak Crawley ruled out for first two tests

Chennai:The visiting England team suffered a jolt on the eve of the opening test against India as top order batsman Zak Crawley was ruled out for the first two tests due to a wrist injury.

A statement from ECB here said Zak Crawley did not train yesterday at England’s practice session as he slipped outside the dressing room and has injured his right wrist.Following the results of last night’s scan, Crawley has beenruled out of the first two Tests to be held here.

''Scan results have confirmed that Crawley has jarred his right wrist, which has sprained the joint and led to local inflammation'', the statement said.The Kent player sustained the injury during England’spractice on Tuesday when he slipped on the marble floor leaving the dressing rooms onto the field of play.The England medical team will continue to assess his progress over the next few weeks.Crawley's injury will force a rethink of the visitors' combination going into the first of the two Chennai Tests.

The return of Rory Burns from paternity leave would have pushed Crawley to No 3 for the series opener having opened the batting alongside Dom Sibley in Sri Lanka last month. He scored 267 against Pakistan from the No 3 spot last summer but averaged only 8.75 opening the batting in Sri Lanka with a top-score of 13.The two teams will begin the 4-Test series with the series opener, starting February 5 in Chennai.(UNI)