Thaindian News

Dambulla, Aug 9 (IANS) A confident young Indian side will be the favourites when they take on New Zealand in the One-day International (ODI) tri-nation series opener here Tuesday.
With the Test series between India and hosts Sri Lanka wrapping up only two days ago, India could have only one practice session Monday.

The Indian team, which won the third and the last Test to level the three-match series 1-1, will be high on confidence. They, however, will be missing key players in Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan.

Paceman Ishant Sharma is likely to sit out of the first game after he picked an ankle injury. His absence means that Abhimanyu Mithun might get to make his debut in ODIs.

A finger injury in the third Test had troubled Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third Test but the Indian skipper has announced himself available for the opening match.

Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar should add to the Indian bowling, which appeared ineffective during the Test series.

New Zealand, too, will not be fielding their full strength side. In the absence of Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor will be taking on the captaincy and will be the fulcrum of the New Zealand batting.

The Black Caps, however, will be looking for some solace from their two wins in the warm up games against second string Sri Lankan players.

The pitch favours fast bowling which gives New Zealand an edge because of its formidable pace attack.

The track makes batting difficult under lights, with all matches being day and night, making the toss crucial.

Squads:

India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Ashish Nehra.

New Zealand (from): Ross Taylor (captain), Martin Guptill, Peter Ingram, Kane Williamson, Scott Styris, Grant Elliott, Gareth Hopkins (wicketkeeper), Nathan McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Andy McKay.