Sri Lanka’s hopes of coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the ODI series against India have taken a hit with Muttiah Muralitharan being ruled out of the remaining four games because of a finger injury. Murali, who missed the two Twenty 20 matches as well as the first ODI, sustained the injury in the final Test match in Mumbai and is set to return home.

“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,” Brendon Kuruppu, manager of the Sri Lankan team, told. “Murali injured his ring and middle fingers during the Mumbai Test and is going back home via Chennai.”

Sri Lanka will bolster their spin attack with two untested offspinners, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Suraj Randiv, who will join the squad in time for the second ODI in Nagpur on December 18. Pushpakumara was part of the Twenty20 squad and played in the first game, Sri Lanka’s lone success so far on tour, before returning home. Randiv was a part of Sri Lanka’s Test squad against Pakistan earlier this year, but is yet to play for the country.