BLOEMFONTEIN, (South Africa), Oct 24: South African fast bowler Allan Donald has been ruled out of November’s three-Test home series against India because of a stomach muscle injury, he said Wednesday.

Donald, who has played no international cricket this season, strained the muscle while playing for Free State in a first class match at the weekend, which has also put his chance of making the tour to Australia at the end of the year in doubt.

“It’s going to cost me another four to six weeks so that’s going to put me out of the picture for the entire Test series against the Indians,” Donald told Reuters.

“The start of the summer has nothing but setbacks for me but I remain positive - I’m going to get this right once and for all and hopefully be part of the squad which goes to Australia.”

The 35-year-old missed South Africa’s tour to Zimbabwe because of a serious flu strain and was hoping to play in the tests against India ahead of the tour to Australia.

“Obviously there’s a reason for every injury, but when I came back from the flu my body was so knocked back that I was more injury-prone than I probably realised,” Donald said.

“From a fitness point of view, although I felt quite strong, I probably wasn’t ready to get back out there.”—Reuters