India hit by Sreesanth injury blow

India's pace attack for their Test series in Sri Lanka was depleted further on Tuesday after Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was ruled out with a knee injury.

Sreesanth, 27, will join pace spearhead Zaheer Khan on the sidelines after suffering a ligament sprain in his left knee during training in Colombo ahead of the first Test in Galle from Sunday.

"Sreesanth has sprained a ligament of his left knee and has been advised rest for three to four weeks," the Indian cricket board said in a statement.

"The selection committee has picked Munaf Patel as his replacement and he will join the squad in Sri Lanka at the earliest."

Patel, 27, a right-arm seamer, played the last of his 12 Tests against New Zealand in April 2009. He has taken 34 wickets at an average of 36.17.

Patel will compete with rookie Abhimanyu Mithun for the second seamer's spot behind Ishant Sharma in the Test series.

Mithun, 20, was himself a late replacement for Zaheer, who was forced out of the series with a shoulder injury.

Mithun, a right-arm seamer from Karnataka, played a solitary one-day international against South Africa earlier this year, but has not featured in a Test match.

After Galle, the action shifts to Colombo, where the second Test will be played at the Sinhalese sports club from July 26 and the third at the P Sara Oval from August 3.

India are also due to play a limited-overs tri-series against New Zealand and hosts Sri Lanka after the Tests.

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