Khan, Sreesanth out of Test series

India suffered a twin blow ahead of their Test series against the West Indies later this month after speedsters Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth being ruled out of the squad due to injuries. Zaheer and Sreesanth were named in the 16-member Indian squad for the Test series which will begin on June 20 in Kingston. The two will however, not be able to travel to the Caribbean as they need time for rehabilitation. Zaheer has a right ankle problem while Sreesanth is suffering from an elbow injury on his bowling hand. Abhimanyu Mithun and Praveen Kumar have been named in place of the injured duo for the three-match series that ends on July 10. "Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth have been ruled out of the forthcoming Test series against the West Indies. Zaheer has a right ankle problem, and Sreesanth has a right elbow problem. Both players will require some time off for rehabilitation," a media release from the Indian Cricket Board said. The BCCI, however, did not mention the time the duo will need to recover from their injuries. Full tour After the West Indies series, India will embark on a full tour of England next month with a four-match Test series starting on July 21. The ruling out of Zaheer and Sreesanth for West Indies tour will further weaken the squad as Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh had already been left out due to injuries, while Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the series. Zaheer was rested from the ongoing five-match ODI series against the West Indies while Sreesanth was not picked. Both played in the IPL after the gruelling World Cup. Injury to the two speedsters could once again ignite the club versus country debate as the likes of Sehwag and Gambhir played in the IPL despite injuries. Meanwhile, explosive West Indies opener Chris Gayle was not considered for selection for the third One-day International against India scheduled Saturday. Gayle was also left out of the first two ODIs that the West Indies lost. The left-hander's comment that he was dropped from the earlier part of the Pakistan series did not go down well with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and he has been called to meet the management. "The WICB management and the West Indies team management have not yet met Chris Gayle and as such he has not been considered for selection for the third Digicel Pearls ODI. The WICB and Gayle are currently working on settling a date for the meeting," the WICB said in a statement Thursday. Jamaican batsman Danza Hyatt has been brought in place of Dwayne Bravo, who along with pace bowler Ravi Rampaul, has been rested. Fast bowler Kemar Roach replaces Rampaul. Squad Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Venkatsai Laxman (vice-captain), Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel