Ashwin, Rahul and Vijay out of IPL as India injuries mount

Ravichandran Ashwin playing for India

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that Ravichandran Ashwin, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay will miss the Indian Premier League due to injury, while no date has been set for Virat Kohli's return.

Rising Pune Supergiants will be without Ashwin in the tournament after the India spinner was ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin injury.

Kings XI Punjab have lost Vijay for the duration of the competition, as the opening batsman requires a wrist operation and is also struggling with a shoulder problem following India's Test series win over Australia.

Fellow-opener Rahul is to undergo surgery on his left shoulder and will play no part for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Kohli missed the win over Australia in the series-deciding fourth Test due to a shoulder injury and it remains to be seen when the India captain will be fit to feature for RCB.

Ravindra Jadeja (finger) and Umesh Yadav (hip and back) will miss the opening two games of the IPL for Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively as they recover from injury problems.

There is positive news for Mumbai Indians, with batsman Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya declared fit for the start of a tournament, which gets under way Wednesday.