Karthik Will Open Against Kiwis, NZ Under Pressure

Dinesh Karthik

Colombo: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday conceded the team will miss Gautam Gambhir and revealed Dinesh Karthik will don the opener's role in the ongoing Compaq Cup tri-series.

Gambhir will return home without playing a single match owing to a groin injury, which would mean India would miss both their regular openers since Virender Sehwag is also out of action following a shoulder surgery.

In such a scenario, Dhoni said Karthik would open the innings along with Sachin Tendulkar.

"Dinesh Karthik will open tomorrow because he is doing well in the net sessions also because and we do not have a replacement right now," Dhoni said on the eve of India's tournament opener.

Ashish Nehra's return to Sri Lanka. In 17 matches here, he has taken 25 wickets at 26.36 with a best of 6 for 59 in his last outing here.

Ryder was in top form when India toured New Zealand earlier this year, and set the tone for a personally excellent series in the one-day leg. He scored a sublime hundred in Christchurch and then took three wickets and scored a half-century in the last game, smashing India's attack all around Eden Park.

Team news

India: Dinesh Karthik has been confirmed as the man to open the innings in Gambhir's absence, at least for this game. Dravid will bat at either of Nos 3 or 4. Dhoni said it was rare that India went in to a match with five specialist bowlers, and indicated that it would be a 3-1 combination, which means Harbhajan Singh will be the only spinner.

Squad (likely): Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma.

New Zealand: Daryl Tuffey stepped up admirably in Mills absence, and Ian Butler's poor bowling in the batting Powerplay during the last match may see him sit out for Mills. The batting will remain the same.

Squad (likely): Brendon McCullum (wk), Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond.

Pitch and conditions
In the last match the pitch was two-faced and not an ideal one for one-dayers. It remains to be seen what is rolled out for Friday's encounter. As usual, scattered showers are forecast but fans will hope the rain stays away, as it did on Tuesday.

Stats and Trivia

• Sachin Tendulkar averages 44.25 at the Premadasa, with 885 runs and three centuries from 24 matches.
• Dravid averages 31.25 here, with 500 runs from 21 matches.

Match facts
Friday September 11, 2009 (day/night)
Start time 14.30 (9.00 GMT)

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