Indian middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh has been ruled out of Sunday's crucial Champions Trophy Group A match against Australia after suffering a knee injury.

The 24-year-old left-hander twisted his left knee during a training session on Saturday and needed to be helped off the field.

"An MRI scan suggests a tear of his cruciate ligament and some bone bruising within the knee," a team spokesman said.

"It is too early to say how long he will take to recover."

The spokesman said Yuvraj would travel to Mumbai to see a specialist.

The injury to Yuvraj, a nominee for the ICC one-day Player of the Year award, is a huge setback for India, both because of his batting and superb fielding.

Yuvraj could also be ruled out for the early stages of the South Africa tour following the Champions Trophy. The first one-dayer is scheduled for November 19.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid has asked his batsmen to deliver against world champions Australia in the must-win clash.

The tournament's feature game has been dubbed a virtual quarter-final because a victory would send either team into the last four.

New Zealand and South Africa from Group B and holders West Indies have already qualified for the semi-finals.

"We don't need miracles, we need good performances," Dravid said.

"We can't see such games as an opportunity to fail," he added. "As a batting unit we need to perform better."

India's impressive order are on a low as they brace for Australia's formidable pace attack on a seaming pitch.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Dravid and youngster Suresh Raina have all struggled and Irfan Pathan has been repeatedly promoted to number three without too much success.

"I accept the lean patch," Dravid said.

"They are all working hard but they are going through a patch where they are not getting things right.

"We need to put enough runs on the board to but pressure on the opposition.

"We need to score at least 250 here to bring pressure on the opposition."

Scoring runs could be tough against the pace attack of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Bracken.

South Africa's fast bowlers dismissed Pakistan for 89 on Friday on an adjacent Mohali pitch to surge into the semi-finals.

India are under pressure from their fans and media after their batting slump led to defeat against West Indies on Thursday.

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, surprisingly left out, is set to play after replacing injured fellow seamer Ajit Agarkar.

Australia reiterated their superiority over India in last month's one-day tri-series in Malaysia, where Lee grabbed five wickets to bowl them to an 18-run victory defending 213 runs.

Johnson returned figures of 4-11 in an earlier game to reduce India to 35-5 before it was washed out.

Dravid hoped for support from home fans to see them through.

"It is a huge boost," he said. "We see that as an opportunity, to take inspiration."

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