Indian batsman Rohit Sharma, who was left out of the 15-man squad for the first two Tests against England, may have a longer spell on the sidelines. The Board of Control for Cricket in India's chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad, said that Sharma is suffering from thigh strain that he picked up during the recently concluded India-New Zealand series. The Mumbai batsman's recovery time could go up to eight weeks, Prasad added.

After several inconsistent displays since his Test debut in 2013, Sharma's injury is viewed as an untimely one. The 29-year-old looked in fine nick during India's 3-0 Test whitewash of New Zealand, scoring 238 runs at an average of 79.33. "Rohit [Sharma] has an injury. It could take anything between 6-8 weeks and he might have to go for a surgery," Prasad was quoted as saying in a Times of India report.

Apart from Sharma, openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan also failed to recover in time for the start of the five-match Test series against Alastair Cook's men. Karnataka batsman Karun Nair has been floated in as a replacement for Sharma, but he will be tussling for a spot with all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who earned his first-ever Test call-up. The first Test starts in Rajkot on November 9.