After its opening batsman David Warner was ruled out for the remainder of the Test series on Tuesday, Australia’s chances of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy were harmed once more.

Warner broke his left elbow in a hairline fracture after being hit by Mohammed Siraj in the first innings of the second Test in Delhi. He was substituted out of the Test match after being hit on the helmet two overs later and developing delayed symptoms of a concussion.

To recuperate, the opener is scheduled to fly back to Australia. However, it is anticipated that he will return for the ODI series, which will shortly follow the Test series.

“David Warner has been ruled out of the Qantas test tour of India and will return home. Warner was struck on the elbow in the second Test in Delhi and sustained a hairline fracture. After further assessment, he will require a period of rehabilitation which will preclude any further involvement in the remainder of the Test series. It is currently anticipated that he will return to India for the three One-Day Internationals which follow the Test Series,”

Cricket Australia said in a statement.

The 36-year-old had struggled for form in the first two Tests, which Australia lost heavily to leave them 0-2 behind in the series. In his three innings, he scored 26 runs. On Monday, Australia coach Andrew McDonald said that a decision about Warner’s fitness would be made.

Another blow for the Aussies with David Warner heading home.@ARamseyCricket | #INDvAUS

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 21, 2023

India holds a 2-0 advantage in the Test series

Mitchell Starc is expected to play in Indore after recovering from his finger injury, but Australia is already without Josh Hazlewood because of a persistent Achilles injury.

In the third Test in Indore, all-rounder Cameron Green, who is training at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi, is also expected to play. After taking a leave of absence to have his first child, Mitchell Swepson is likely to rejoin the team.

After the Delhi Test, Captain Pat Cummins left immediately for family reasons. He is expected to return later this week and play in Indore, but his status is still unknown.

Australia may let go of some team members so that they can play domestic cricket at home. Any changes will be made on Wednesday.

On Monday, Australia’s men’s team coach Andrew McDonald said that Warner’s fitness will be checked this week, but no other changes to the visiting team were made public.

“We’re in no rush to make any decisions at this point in time around Davey. It will be basically how sore and how functional it is as to what decision we make with him and then the length of the injury. There’s some talk the length of injury could be anywhere between a week-plus, depending on how that settles down. There’s a bit of unknown there, so I’ll leave that to the medical team and they’ll inform me once they know,”

McDonald said in Delhi yesterday as quoted by cricket.com.au.

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India will play Australia in Indore for the third Test that starts on March 1 while the fourth Test will be played in Ahmedabad from March 9.