Sehwag and Raina head home for short break

Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina have taken advantage of the leisurely format of the tri-series in Dambulla to head back to India for personal reasons. Indian team manager Ranjib Biswal said they flew out from Sri Lanka on Thursday and will return on Saturday.

The Indian team has a five-day break between their opening game against New Zealand, in which they crashed to a 200-run defeat, and their next match against Sri Lanka on Monday. Both Sehwag and Raina were in the squad for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka, which ended only three days ahead of the tri-series in Dambulla.

After the defeat to New Zealand, the Indian team took a day off and about half the squad took part in net sessions on Thursday and Friday. Fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who missed the tournament opener with an ankle injury, was the only member of the Test squad to train on Thursday. Another player who took part in all three Tests, Pragyan Ojha, also joined him on Friday.