Ben Stokes will miss England's Test series against New Zealand as he requires surgery on a broken finger that will rule the all-rounder out for up to three months.
Stokes broke his hand taking a catch for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League earlier this week and a repeat X-ray and CT scan on Friday revealed that he has a fracture of his left index finger.
A specialist hand surgeon told Stokes that he would require surgery and the 29 year-old will now fly home from India and have surgery in Leeds.
Originally, it had been thought that Stokes might only be ruled out for six weeks, and therefore still be in contention to play the first Test against New Zealand, which is at Lord's on June 2.
Instead, Stokes will now miss both NZ Tests, as well as the three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka.He is also likely to miss the three ODIs and three T20Is against Pakistan, which conclude on July 20.