Sydney, Dec 17 (IANS): England pacer Tom Curran has been ruled out of the remainder of the Sydney Sixers campaign in the 2021/22 season of the Big Bash League due to a back injury.

Curran's exit is a big blow for the defending champions, who are also missing the services of spinners Ben Manenti and Steve O'Keefe due to neck stress fracture and calf injury respectively.

"English international Tom Curran forced out of the remainder of the tournament after suffering from a troublesome hotspot in his back. Curran will return to the UK immediately to begin his rehabilitation," read the release from the Sixers on their official website.

Curran had taken six wickets in four matches in this edition of the BBL and was tipped to play a crucial role in the Sixers' pace attack alongside his England team-mate Chris Jordan. He was the team's leading wicket-taker in the 2019/20 trophy-winning campaign, picking 22 wickets in 14 matches at an economy rate of 9.05 apart from crucial cameos with the bat.

"We pride ourselves on being a club and a team that embraces challenges but to lose players of the calibre of Tom (Curran) and Ben (Manenti), and to have SOK (Steve O'Keefe) on the sidelines, would be a challenge for any team and those guys aren't simply replaced. On and off the field, all three of those guys play a massive role for us and their presence around the team and skills on the field will be missed by everybody in the group," said Sixers' captain Moises Henriques.

Curran, a member of England's 2019 Cricket World Cup-winning team, had missed last season's BBL because of travel restrictions and quarantine rules. The Sixers, in the ongoing edition of the BBL, are on top of the table having won three of their four matches and have amassed 11 points so far.