Test replacements leave for Colombo

Leaving behind memories of the crushing defeat to Sri Lanka in the final of the triangular series at Colombo yesterday, eight Indian cricketers arrived in Chennai on Monday.

A few hours before the eight returned from Colombo at the end of the one-dayers, the six players selected for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka left Chennai for Colombo.

Karnataka speedsters, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, who arrived in Chennai yesterday, will join the Indian team in Colombo on Tuesday afternoon, cricket board sources said.

No confirmation was available as to when Sachin Tendulkar would be joining the team but Board Secretary JY Lele had on August 2 said Tendulkar had to undergo a bone scan on August 10 and his inclusion would depend on the result of this scan. In case Tendulkar was unable to join the team in the test series, Jacob Martin would replace him.

Openers Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagoppan Ramesh, Mohd Kaif, Sairaj Bahutule, Dinesh Mongia and Harvinder Singh left for Colombo on Monday afternoon.

Among the eight players who returned, Zaheer Khan, who is nursing a 'stress fracture' on his right shin, will stay back in Chennai. Khan is due to undergo a bone scan at a private hospital on Tuesday and before returning to Colombo.

Others who arrived were VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Amay Khurasiya, Virender Shewag, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Ajit Agarkar and Debasis Mohtanty. They are scheduled to leave for their respective homes on Monday evening. The first Test begins on August 14 at Galle.