Mumbai, Aug 7 (IANS): India's pace bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan was Sunday ruled out of the rest of the England series with a hamstring strain and will be replaced by Rudra Pratap Singh, who returns to the national team after two years.

"Zaheer is suffering from a recurrent right hamstring strain and a right ankle impingement. He will require surgery for his ankle, followed by intensive rehabilitation for both the ankle and hamstring. He will need at least 14-16 weeks to recover completely," said N. Srinivasan, the Indian cricket board secretary.

Zaheer picked up the injury on the first day of the first Test in Lord's after bowling just 13 overs. Subsequently he was ruled out of the Test match and also missed the second game at Trent Bridge. India lost the Lord's Test by 196 runs and suffered a huge 319-run rout in Trent Bridge.

Srinivasan said that Zaheer will not only miss the remaining two Tests at Edgbaston and The Oval but also the subsequent T20 International and ODI series.

"R.P. Singh has been picked as his replacement in the Indian squads for the Test series, and the T20 International and ODI series. He will join the team at the earliest," he said.

Rudra Pratap, a left-arm pacer, played a crucial role in India's 1-0 Test series win in 2007 picking up 12 wickets from the three matches. He picked up five wickets in the second innings of first Test in Lord's that ended in a draw.

Rudra Pratap's bowling lacked bite after the 2007-08 tour of Australia and he went wicket-less in the two home Tests against South Africa in 2008 following which he was dropped from the Test squad.

Rudra Pratap was omitted from ODI squad after India made an early exit from the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa. But a steady performance in the domestic cricket earned him a recall.