Chennai

Fast-rising England opener Zak Crawley was on Thursday ruled out of the first two Test matches against India after sustaining a freak wrist injury on his 23rd birthday.

Crawley, who turned 23 on Wednesday, had slipped on the marble floor of the Chepauk dressing room, thereby injuring his wrist.

"Following the results of last night’s scan, England top-order batsman Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the first two Tests of the India versus England series," the ECB said in a media release.

"Scan results have confirmed that Crawley has jarred his right wrist, which has sprained the joint and led to local inflammation. The England medical team will continue to assess his progress over the next few weeks," it stated.

The right-handed opener Crawley has 616 runs from 10 Test matches, including one hundred and three fifties. He had a poor tour of Sri Lanka with scores of 9, 8, 5 and 13.

The first Test begins here on Friday.

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