MUMBAI: Young Indian opener Prithvi Shaw has been ruled out of the remaining two Test matches against Australia due to an ankle injury, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said on Monday.

The 19-year-old opener injured his ankle while fielding during the tour match against a Cricket Australia XI in Sydney last month and has missed the first two matches of the series.

Indian fans had hoped that Shaw, who scored an aggressive century on debut against West Indies in October, would be fit-again for the third Test which begins in Melbourne on Dec 26.

Fellow opener Mayank Agarwal, who is yet to make his Test debut, was named as Shaw’s replacement.

The Indian selectors also called up all-rounder Hardik Pandya who has recovered from a back injury sustained in the Asia Cup earlier this year.

Murali Vijay and Lokesh Rahul, who were paired together to open the innings following Shaw’s injury, have struggled in the first two matches.

The out-of-form Rahul has scored 48 runs in four innings while Vijay, who was recalled to the side after being dropped from the England series earlier this year, has managed 49.

India won the opening match in Adelaide by 31 runs to take a 1-0 series lead.

Virat Kohli’s side were in a precarious position in the second Test in Perth after the fourth day’s play on Monday, having been reduced to 112-5, 175 runs short of their target.

Squad for third and fourth Tests: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2018