Ishant Sharma ruled out of World Cup; Mohit Sharma likely to replace him

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 having failed to recover from a knee injury. Reports suggest that Mohit Sharma is likely to take Ishant's place in the 15-man squad for the quadrennial event. The injured quartet of Ishant, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja went through rigorous fitness drills and the 26-year-old paceman was the only player found unfit. Ishant last played for India in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. "It's confirmed that Ishant has been ruled out and will not recover in time to play the World Cup. As per regulations, we had Mohit Sharma as stand-by and he will be inducted into the World Cup squad. Ishant is likely to return home," a top BCCI source told PTI. "Rohit Sharma (hamstring), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (ankle) and Ravindra Jadeja (shoulder) have passed the fitness test. However to confirm their match fitness, the trio will need to go through the grind during the warm-up games against Australia and Afghanistan. The team management will need to check as to how Jadeja shapes up while throwing from the deep. That they (Rohit and Bhuvneshwar) have reported fit is the reason that they were presented for the Open Media Session," the source added. BCCI is yet to issue a official statement on Ishant's withdrawal from the team and his replacement. Following the Test series, Ishant was not in the playing XI for the first two ODIs in the tri-series. He resumed training and was picked in the Australia Day clash in Sydney but the match was rained out and Ishant was unable to bowl. Subsequently, he was dropped for the Perth match against England. Mohit Sharma, who played in the match at Perth, was among the few who did well, taking two wickets for 36 runs. India will play their first warm-up game against Australia on February 08, which will be followed by a warm-up clash against Afghanistan. India will open their World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Adelaide on February 15.