London: South Africa's fast bowling department on Friday got depleted as Morne Morkel was ruled out of the entire Champions Trophy tournament due to a quad strain, he suffered on Thursday.
The lanky paceman was troubled by strain in the game against India and he could not even complete his spell. All he could bowl was 6.5 overs in which he gave away 27 runs and did not take a wicket.
He has suffered a Grade 1 injury on the left quad and would need no less than three weeks to regain fitness.
South Africa are already struggling with fitness of their pace spearhead Dale Steyn, who missed the game against India due to a side strain.
Allrounder Chris Morris has been announced as Morkel's replacement and approved by the ICC's event technical committee, he will join the squad in Birmingham on Saturday.
Morris is uncapped in ODIs for South Africa but played two Twenty20 internationals last season.