Missing key players and just done with an exhausting drawn Test series, India swiftly shift to the One-day mode as they take on an equally-depleted New Zealand in the opening match of the cricket tri-series starting in Dambulla on Tuesday. Also featuring Sri Lanka, the series starts just two days after India drew 1-1 with the hosts in an engrossing Test series.
India will be without in-form batting Sachin Tendulkar and spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh, both of whom have been rested, and injured opener Gautam Gambhir in the series. Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan remains sidelined with a shoulder injury, which might give a woefully out-of-form Ishant Sharma his first one-day international of the year.
Ashish Nehra will take over the responsibility of leading the attack and on current form, the lanky pacer would be expected to add some zing to the not-so-impressive pace department, which struggled in the Test series.
On the batting front, the series is a chance for off-colour Yuvraj Singh to get over the disappointment of the Test series, in which he flopped in the opening match, missed the second due to flu, and was dropped for the third after his replacement Suresh Raina scored a century on debut.
Virender Sehwag will once again shoulder the responsibility of providing the sort of cracking starts that India have come to expect of him and Gambhir's absence, Dinesh Karthik will give him company in the opening slot.
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