India vs Australia | Umesh Yadav ruled out for the remainder of the series

Bengaluru, December 31: India's pace bowling unit was further depleted with the news that Umesh Yadav, who limped off with tearing pain in his calf muscle on the third day of the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) left for India on Wednesday (December 30) night.

India had already lost the services of strike bowler Mohammed Shami, who was ruled out of the remainder of the Australian summer after being hit on the elbow by a Pat Cummins bouncer in the first Test at Adelaide.

Mohammed Siraj took his place in the playing XI for the second Test at MCG and impressed by taking five wickets.

Umesh Yadav taken for scans after complaining of pain in his calf while bowling

Now with Umesh also joining the casualty list, Jasprit Bumrah will have to lead the attack with a string of rookies.

Shardul Thakur (who has played only Test) and Navdeep Saini and T Natarajan (who both are yet make their Test debuts) are the only other pace bowling options available for India for the remaining two Test matches of the long Australian summer.

Speaking to ANI news agency, sources in the know of developments in the Indian camp said that Umesh will now look at recovering in time for the England series.

"His scans came in and he'll miss the third and fourth game. So, there was no point in holding him back and it's better that he returns to the country and undergoes rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He left on Wednesday night," the source said.

The 33-year-old was in the middle of a fine spell at MCG when he experienced pain in his left leg and called for immediate medical attention. He limped back to the dressing room and later underwent scans.

India are already without the services of senior pace duo -- Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar -- who both could not even make it to the trip Down Under after succumbing to injuries during Indian Premier League 2020.

The four-match Border-Gavaskar trophy is keenly poised at 1-1 with India winning by eight wickets in Melbourne after being thrashed by an idetical margin at Adelaide.

The New Year Test starts in Sydney on January 7 while the series ends at Brisbane with the fourth match starting on January 15.

(With inputs from Agencies)