Ishant Sharma ruled out of World Cup

Sydney: Paceman Ishant Sharma has failed a fitness test on a knee problem and has been ruled out of the World Cup.

The 26-year-old missed the final test in the series against Australia in early January because of the knee injury and has not played since.

Mohit Sharma, who is in Australia as a standby, will replace his namesake in the squad once approval has been received to make the substitution.

Also 26, Mohit has played 12 ODIs and taken 10 wickets at an average of 40.50 with his right-arm medium pace since his debut against Zimbabwe in 2013.

India's lack of a strong pace attack to make the most of the Australasian wickets is expected to be a major hindrance to India's quest to retain the title they won in spin-friendly conditions on home soil in 2011.

There was better news for India's other injury concerns with batsman Rohit Sharma (hamstring), seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (ankle) and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja (shoulder) all passing fitness tests.

India open their defence of the trophy against Pakistan in Adelaide next Sunday.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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