The Great Game Called Cricket...

Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh's participation in the opening match of the ODI series against Sri Lanka is in doubt after he complained of pain in his little finger on the left hand while fielding during the second Twenty20 in Mohali on Saturday. A final decision will be taken on Monday, the eve of the match in Rajkot.

"The team management will give every possible opportunity to Yuvraj play the first ODI but the final call would be taken only tomorrow," a team source said, adding that it could take upto three weeks for him to recover, effectively ruling him out of the five-match series.

Yuvraj, who took 3 for 23 in Mohali, didn't bowl his full quota of overs and bowled only three before he was taken off after the 17th over. However, the injury didn't affect his batting as he slammed an unbeaten 60 off 25 balls, hitting five sixes, to help India comfortably chase down 207 with five balls to spare.

He was taken to a clinic in Rajkot late on Sunday evening after complaining of pain and later took an X-ray. Niranjan Shah, the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association, told PTI that a final decision will be taken after examining the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon.

He could be replaced by batsman Virat Kohli, who was called-up a cover for Gautam Gambhir, who was suspected to have been struck with swine flu on the eve of the Mohali game, which was later diagnosed as negative.

Saurashtra Cricket Association president Niranjan Shah said that the team management would take a decision on Yuvraj's availability for the match after going through the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon.

"The Indian Team management will take a final decision today whether Yuvraj would play or not, after looking at the report submitted by the orthopedic surgeon," Shah said.

The former BCCI secretary declined to comment further on the doctor's report.

However, BCCI sources said they are hopeful that the explosive batsman would be fit to play the first ODI on Tuesday.

"Yuvraj seems to have suffered a hairline fracture on his little finger and the team management is hopeful he will be able to play the first ODI at Rajkot on Tuesday," BCCI sources said.

Yuvraj was taken to Dr Dinkar Virparia's clinic late in the evening for check-up after the left-hander complained of pain in his little finger on his left hand due to an injury suffered during the second Twenty20 match in Mohali on Saturday.

Later he was taken to the Rajkot Imaging Centre where an X-ray of his finger was taken.

Earlier in the day, India and Sri Lanka teams arrived here for the first One-Day International of the five-match series, beginning on Tuesday.

The teams arrived in Rajkot on a chartered plane amid tight security.