Laxman to return home

VVS Laxman: the crocked knee acts up again © Getty Images

VVS Laxman has been ruled out of the remainder of the Asia Cup after failing to recover from a knee injury. Laxman, who was hit on the knee by a Zaheer Khan delivery during warm-up a couple of days back, will return home today (July 26). Sourav Ganguly indicated that the team think-tank would meet later today to discuss a replacement.

"Laxman has trouble even walking," Ganguly said. "We will decide on the replacement today, but at the moment we are not quite sure whom to request for since our A side is currently touring Africa."

According to a report in Mid Day, SK Nair, the BCCI secretary, indicated that the Indian board had received no such request from the team management.

Laxman had earlier missed India's league match against Sri Lanka due to a knee niggle, but returned for the game against Bangladesh. With India choosing to go without a back-up batsman in their 14-man squad, Laxman's injury forced them to play with only six specialist batsmen against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. On both occasions, they fell short chasing stiff targets.