Australia's injury worries have worsened with Doug Bollinger to be sent home from the World Cup due to an ankle injury that may require surgery. The Australians came to India already missing Michael Hussey, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty and Shaun Marsh due to injuries, but Bollinger is the first member of the squad to be flown home mid-tournament.

Bollinger suffered pain in his left ankle during the first warm-up game against India and although the soreness eased and he was available for Monday's match against Zimbabwe, the problem intensified when the team arrived in Nagpur. Peter Siddle would be the logical replacement for Bollinger, but the selectors have not yet decided on who should join the squad.

The ICC has also confirmed that withdrawn players can return to replace other injured men, meaning the door has been opened for Michael Hussey to make a potential dash to the World Cup. However, the Australians would most likely prefer a backup fast bowler to replace Bollinger, with John Hastings the only reserve seamer in the touring party.

"He's got a thing called posterior impingement," Australia's physio Alex Kountouris said. "Basically, the bones at the back of the ankle, when he lands to bowl, one bone hits another bone and the bone becomes really inflamed and irritated. It irritates all the soft tissue around it as well. It's fairly common in fast bowlers.

"Brett Lee has had five or six lots of surgery on that in the past. It's reasonably common but he [Doug] has never had it before, so we thought we'd push it for as long as we could go, and he just can't go any further at the moment. We need to take him out of cricket for a while, whether he needs just rest or needs other treatment, maybe even surgery, that will be decided in the next few days."

Bollinger will have scans in Australia to determine whether he will need an operation and if that is required, he will have several months to recover before Australia's next Test tour, to Sri Lanka in August. The problem first appeared towards the end of the recent one-day series against England, but the pain did not become significant until the team was preparing for the match against New Zealand.

"It was only when he bowled yesterday here it became really sore again," Kountouris said. "He tried bowling again today and he was really sore today, so based on that, based on the sort of injury it is we're going to send him back to Australia and look at what our options are for treatment."

Shaun Tait, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, again proved themselves a formidable trio by dismissing New Zealand for 206 on Friday. The selectors will decide which player will join them over the next few days.