Murali out of ODI series, two off-spinners called in

STAFF WRITER 10:43 HRS IST

Rajkot, Dec 16 (PTI) Trailing 0-1 following the defeat in the series-opener, Sri Lanka were today dealt a massive blow after ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was ruled out of the remaining four cricket one-dayers against India due to a finger injury.

The Lankans have brought in two new off-spinners, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Suraj Randiv, in the squad.

"We have decided to rest Murali from the One-Day series to allow him to recover fully from the finger injury and to be available for future tournaments," visiting team manager Brendon Kuruppu told PTI today.

"Murali injured his ring and middle fingers during the Mumbai Test (third and final match of the series held in the first week of December) and is going back home via Chennai," Kuruppu informed.

The world's leading wicket-taker in Tests missed the two Twenty20 Internationals that followed the Test series as well as the first ODI that India won here yesterday. .