Injured paceman Munaf Patel was on Saturday ruled out of India's third cricket one-dayer against South Africa, compounding the miseries of the visiting team.

Munaf has been laid low by a sore left ankle and captain Rahul Dravid said the bowler was not fit enough to take the field in tomorrow's outing.

The Gujarat player, who took two wickets in the second ODI at Durban but bowled at a much slower pace, has not taken part in practice sessions since the last two days.

Munaf is the second player to join India's list of injured players on the tour after opener Virender Sehwag was forced to sit out of the Durban tie due to a freak finger injury.

It was still not clear whether Sehwag would take part in tomorrow's game although the team management was hopeful that the Delhi batsman would be fit in time for the match.

"We are hopeful that Sehwag would be alright. But you can never say how a player pulls up on the morning of the match particularly after a practice session."

India are already without the services of key ODI player Yuvraj Singh, who injured his knee ligament last month.