Team India heads to Sri Lanka

Sehwag and Zaheer Khan not part of the team that will play in the Compaq Cup triangular series featuring Sri Lanka and New Zealand
Hardnews Bureau

Team India left for Colombo on Wednesday to participate in the Compaq Cup triangular series featuring host Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The 15-member squad led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be playing one match each against both the teams before the finals on September 14.

The team will miss the services of Virender Sehwag and bowling by Zaheer Khan. Both are missing the trip due to injury. Gary Kirsten, coach of the Indian cricket team, admitted that the absence of Sehwag will be felt. Addressing a press conference in Chennai, Kirsten said, "Obviously, missing players like Sehwag is huge. He is a high quality player and any team would love to have him in their mix. We have got a lot of depth in our cricket at the moment and the inclusion of Rahul Dravid has made the line-up more firm. We are keen to repeat our past performance in Sri Lanka and will try to gain the number one spot in the ODI rankings."

Sri Lanka won the opening match of the tri-series by thrashing New Zealand by 97 runs. India will start their campaign against the Kiwis on Friday.

Team India was on a two-month break after their four-match ODI series win in the Caribbeans. To regain the momentum of 50 overs format, Team India players took part in the BCCI corporate 12 team tournament. Air India Red led by Yuvraj won the tournament.