NEW DELHI: Flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag will miss the one-day series against South Africa due to an unspecified shoulder injury, the Indian cricket board said Thursday. “Sehwag has been advised to withdraw from the one-day series to tend to his shoulder,” the board said in a statement, without elaborating on the injury. Sehwag played in the first two Tests against South Africa without any apparent discomfort and is expected to take the field in the decider in Cape Town from Sunday. The Tests are tied 1-1, with South Africa winning the opening match in Centurion and India taking the second game in Durban Wednesday. Rohit Sharma will replace Sehwag in the one-day squad, while Test opener Murali Vijay has been added as the 17th member, the board said. The limited-overs contests open with a Twenty20 international in Durban on Jan. 9, followed by five one-dayers in Durban (Jan. 12), Johannesburg (Jan. 15), Cape Town (Jan. 18), Port Elizabeth (Jan. 21) and Centurion (Jan. 23). It will be the last international engagement for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men before the World Cup starts in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Feb. 19. Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Dhoni ready for green tops Fresh from leading India to only its second Test win on five tours of South Africa, Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he would welcome playing the decisive third and final Test in Cape Town on a lively pitch. “It will be interesting to see what kind of wicket is prepared,” said Dhoni. “The greener the track the better it may be for us.” Dhoni was speaking after India leveled the series with an 87-run win midway through the fourth day of the second Test at Kingsmead, traditionally the pitch with the most pace and bounce in South Africa - and a surface which had been expected to aid South Africa's fast bowlers.
