Philander ruled out of series after freak injury

South Africa suffered another major setback when seamer, Vernon Philander was ruled out of the remainder of the four-Test series against India after sustaining a freak ankle injury during a training session here on Thursday.

Kyle Abbott, who was part of the preceding limited-overs series, has been named as Philander’s replacement. Abott is likely join the squad on Friday morning.

With doubts over Dale Steyn’s availability, South Africa’s bowling resources have been severely affected. Steyn, who will go through a fitness test on Friday morning, had picked up a groin strain in the first Test at Mohali. While Philander, who looked the best of SA bowlers in Mohali, will be out for at least six weeks, Morne Morkel has declared fit for the second Test. The tall fast bowler was left out of the first match due to a quad muscle injury. All-rounder JP Duminy too has been declared fit and his availability will boost both bowling and batting units of the visitors.   

In a release issued here on Thursday, Proteas team manager, Mohammed Moosajee said: “Vernon rolled his left ankle during practice at the stadium in Bengaluru this morning. He was taken to the hospital for an MRI scan which confirmed an ankle ligament tear, ruling him out of the current series against India.

“He will return to Cape Town this weekend to be assessed by one of Cricket South Africa’s specialists. At this moment it is still too early to tell but he will be out for a period of at least six to eight weeks.”

AB de Villiers, who was around when Philander hurt his ankle, termed Philander unlucky. “Vernon stepped on Dean's foot by accident in our warm-up. A very freakish accident...I've seen much worse before. He limped off the field and it might be nothing, it might be bad.”
Abbott last played a Test match for South Africa against the West Indies in December 2014.