Injured McCullum out for remainder of IPL

Brendon McCullum will miss the last three matches of Gujarat Lions' IPL 2017 season after suffering a left hamstring strain in the match against Delhi Daredevils on Thursday. Lions were knocked out of contention for playoffs after their seven-wicket defeat to Daredevils.

McCullum's injury reduces Lions' pool of fit overseas players to four: Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch, James Faulkner and UAE's Chirag Suri. Injuries had earlier ruled out allrounder Dwayne Bravo and fast bowler Andrew Tye, while Jason Roy has returned to England on international duty.

In a tweet, McCullum stated that the "compressed tournament and long travel" had taken a toll.

Injuries are not ideal but part of our sport. Compressed tournament & long travel can be gruelling. Sorry for not being there all the way.

— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) May 5, 2017

With 319 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 147, McCullum is currently the second-highest run-getter for Lions this season, following up on the 354 runs he hit last season.

The side, however, has struggled to match its performance from 2016 when they had reached the playoff stage. So far this season, they have three wins in 11 matches.

They are also expected to be without fast bowler Nathu Singh for the rest of the tournament, reportedly due to back spasms.

Lions are scheduled to play one away match - against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali [May 7] - followed by two home matches against Daredevils [May 10] and Sunrisers Hyderabad [May 13] in Kanpur.