PTI

MOHALI, oct 28: India suffered a major blow on the eve of its must-win Champions Trophy clash against Australia with middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh being ruled out of the tournament with a ligament tear on Saturday.

Yuvraj suffered the injury in his left knee while playing Kho-kho on Saturday morning and an MRI scan suggested a tear in the cruciate ligament and bruises in the knee joint, Indian team media manager Rajan Nair said.
 
The 25-year old Punjab player has been ruled out of action for at least two weeks, which also puts him in doubt for the upcoming tour of South Africa. The squad for the South Africa tour, starting later next month, is to be picked on November 1.

"Yuvraj will be sent to Mumbai for further consultation with BCCI's Dr Anant Joshi. His condition will be reviewed by Joshi and team physio John Gloster in Mumbai," Nair said.

The Punjab batsman was playing kho-kho with his team-mates at the PCA Stadium here when he lost balance while turning around and fell down, hurting the back of his left knee.

Both India and Australia have two points from as many matches eash as they go into the last league engagement of the biennial event. The winner would go through to the semifinals.
 
Meanwhile, a senior orthopaedician at Chandigarh's premier Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) said it might be a few weeks before the Punjab player returned to the field.

"Such kind of injuries take anywhere between four to eight weeks to recover," said Dr Vijay Goni, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, at PGIMER.

"To recuperate from such an injury the patient needs 3-6 weeks of immobilisation. Most time it requires surgical intervention if the ligament is torn and arthroscopy has to be done. Muscle wasting also results due to immobilisation and for complete healing it may take two months time," he added.