Yuvraj ruled out of Australia clash

Yuvraj Singh was ruled out of the match against Australia after hurting his left knee © AFP

The Indian team received a major blow ahead of the virtual quarter-final against Australia with Yuvraj Singh, the middle-order batsman, being ruled out of the match after injuring his left knee during a practice session.

India had already lost Ajit Agarkar to a fractured thumb while Munaf Patel, their most impressive new-ball bowler in the tournament, recovered from a sprained wrist suffered during India's previous game against West Indies at Ahmedabad.

Yuvraj sustained a cruciate ligament injury when he took a sharp u-turn while playing kho-kho, a traditional Indian game, at the Punjab Cricket Academy (PCA) Ground. He immediately fell to the ground and held his left knee in pain. He was escorted to the dressing-room, where an ice-pack was applied to the area below the left knee after which he was taken to a local hospital for diagnostic tests. Yuvraj will now head to Mumbai to meet Anant Joshi, the Indian board's orthopedic surgeon.

Rajan Nair, the media manager, also said that there was bone bruising within the knee joint and that his recovery would be assessed by John Gloster, the Indian physio, and Joshi subsequently.