New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has ruled himself out of the proposed tour of Pakistan through injury and will return home for treatment to an abdominal strain, the New Zealand Herald reported on Monday.
The injury ruled him out of what turned out to be New Zealand's final match in the tri-series with hosts India and Australia. India beat New Zealand by 145 runs and will meet Australia in the final on Tuesday.
Fleming joins Craig McMillan, Ian Butler, Scott Styris and Lou Vincent in not travelling on to Pakistan and while New Zealand have named four replacements, a final decision on the tour is not expected from New Zealand Cricket until Tuesday.
The tour was arranged to compensate Pakistan for the abandoned part of New Zealand's tour in May 2000 after a bomb blast outside the team's Karachi hotel but the touring side have received an e-mail threat from unknown sources.
Should the trip not proceed, Pakistan have said they would not tour New Zealand in December and January in retaliation.
Chris Cairns will lead New Zealand in Pakistan in the absence of Fleming in five one-day internationals. The first match is in Faisalabad on Saturday.
