Injury problems for teams ahead of tri-series

India, New Zealand and hosts Sri Lanka all head into a triangular one-day tournament starting on Wednesday with their fair share of injury problems.

Sri Lanka, who start favourites in their own backyard, suffered a setback on Monday when left-arm paceman Nuwan Zoysa was ruled out with a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Sri Lankan cricket board officials say the injury could put Zoysa out of action for almost two months and that he may also miss the three-test series against India starting on August 14.

Zoysa has been replaced in the 15-man squad by paceman Dinusha Fernando.

But Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya was unperturbed. "We have to concentrate on the cricket," he said on Monday.

"It's going to be a tough series, there is no guarantee of victory at an event like this. We are going to play hard against New Zealand and India."

The New Zealanders, who arrived three days ago from a severe winter and sub-zero temperatures at home, will have to brave stifling heat and humidity when they take on the hosts in the opening day-night game at Colombo's Premadasa Stadium.

KIWIS STRENGTHENED

The Kiwis have been strengthened by the return of all-rounder Dion Nash and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori after almost a year away from international cricket because of back injuries.

The pair took a wicket each as New Zealand beat Sri Lanka A on Monday, but they are still not a 100 percent fit.

The team management is not sure when Nash will be ready to play, having described his progress as a slow day-to-day process. But they have said he will be in the team at some stage in the tournament.

New Zealand are also without all-rounder Chris Cairns, who is still recovering after a knee operation in February.

"You take out Chris from a side and it's a completely different team. It's very tough for us to fill in that gap," said New Zealand coach David Trist earlier this week.

But skipper Stephen Fleming is hopeful that the younger players will make a major contribution to the side.

"We hope the younger members of our team, who did well in the summer, will put in some good performances," he said.

UNDER PRESSURE

India are perhaps the team most under pressure to win after their seventh straight final loss in one-day tournaments, against West Indies in a tri-series event in Zimbabwe earlier this month.

The defeat came after they had won all four round-robin games to reach the final as favourites.

Their worst final losses over the last three years have also come against the Kiwis and the Lankans.

They lost in the final of the ICC Knockout Cup in Kenya to New Zealand late last year after having knocked out Australia earlier in the tournament, and were bowled out for a paltry 54 by Sri Lanka in a tri-series final at Sharjah soon after.

India's biggest worry going into the tournament is the absence of batsman Sachin Tendulkar for the major part of the round robin phase.

Captain Sourav Ganguly said on Monday that Tendulkar, who is nursing a foot injury, would join the squad in time for India's match against the hosts on July 28.

Indian cricket officials had said last week he may not be available until August 2, when India meet New Zealand in their final round-robin game.

"He is a great player. We will miss him," Ganguly said.

India start their campaign against New Zealand on July 20.

The final is scheduled for August 5.

Squads:

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Kumar Dharmasena, Kumar Sangakkara, Avishka Gunawardene, Dinusha Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Suresh Perera, Chamara Silva, Dulip Liyanage.

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Grant Bradburn, James Franklin, Chris Harris, Craig McMillan, Kyle Mills, Dion Nash, Jacob Oram, Adam Parore, Matthew Sinclair, Darryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Amay Khurasiya, Rahul Dravid, Vangipurappu Laxman, Hemang Badani, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sameer Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Debasish Mohanty, Rahul Sanghvi.

Mail Cricket Editor