Sehwag virtually ruled out of first ODI

Virender Sehwag has been virtually ruled out of the first one-dayer against South Africa to be played in Johannesburg on Sunday after it was revealed that the dressing on his injured right ring finger would only come off on Sunday. "His [Sehwag's] injury is not serious as such but the stitches would come off only on Sunday morning and we hope the problem doesn't extend beyond the first game," Greg Chappell, the coach, was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Sehwag suffered a cut on the finger during practice ahead of India's tour match on Thursday, November 16, and required four stitches. He took no part in the game, which the Indians lost by 37 runs, but was present at the ground with his team-mates.

India begin their one-day campaign on November 19, and while Sehwag might miss the first match, it is hoped that he will be fit in time for the second match, to be played at Durban on November 22. If Sehwag is ruled out, India now have to choose between Wasim Jaffer, who would be front-runner to partner Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order, and Dinesh Karthik, the wicketkeeper batsman. Rahul Dravid too is an option, having often in the past stepped in as opener when the situation required.

India are already without Yuvraj Singh, a key player in the one-day team, after he suffered an injury to the cruciate ligament of his left knee last month. Sehwag's latest injury got India's tour of South Africa off to an inauspicious start. Having gone through a lean patch in ODIs, Sehwag had shown signs of a revival in his most recent innings, a streaky half-century against Australia in the Champions Trophy clash at Mohali.

In some good news for the Indians, though, Chappell has fully recovered from the food poisoning that laid him low and prevented him from supervising the practice session ahead of the warm-up match.