Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has been ruled out of the second Test against Pakistan and will return home after failing to recover from the back injury he sustained in the fifth and final Limited Overs International at Lahore.

Ganguly will return to Kolkata on Thursday, April 1, to consult a specialist.

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The second Test begins in Lahore on April 5.

The team management has requested the services of middle order batsman Mohammad Kaif in place of Ganguly.

"Physio Andrew Leipus has been working with Ganguly for the past few days, but he has shown no sign of improvement," team manager Ratnakar Shetty, joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said in Multan today.

"Therefore it has been decided that Ganguly will return home to consult a specialist in his hometown."

But Shetty said Ganguly has not been ruled out of the entire series and could yet play in the third and final Test in Rawalpindi starting April 13 if he recovers completely.