Team India suffered a major blow ahead of its 4-match Test series against Australia as experienced seam bowler Ishant Sharma has been ruled out from playing in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed about the same on Thursday.

"While he's building up his workload in order to achieve Test match fitness, Mr. Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy," said the board.

The BCCI added that Ishant has completely recovered from the side strain he sustained during the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) played at the United Arab Emirates.

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Rohit Sharma's Fitness To Be Accessed On December 11

The apex cricket board in the nation also states that it will have a much better picture on Rohit Sharma's participation in the upcoming Test series against Australia based on his next assessment which will be conducted on December 11. The BCCI had earlier confirmed that both Rohit and Ishant have been ruled out of the first two Test matches.

Natarajan Added To India ODI Squad As Back Up Seamer

Medium pacer Thangarasu Natarajan has been added as a backup seamer to India's ODI squad for the Australia series after Navdeep Saini "complained of back spasm" ahead of the first ODI at Sydney.

India's tour of Australia got underway with the 'Men in Blue' currently taking on Australia in the first ODI at Sydney. The three-match ODI series will be followed by a 3-game T20 international series from December 4. The first of the four Tests to be played at Adelaide will be commence on December 17.