Team India leaves for Sri Lanka

Zeenews Sports Bureau

New Delhi: After a much needed break, Indian cricket team will embark upon a new season hoping to arrest the slide they have undergone since their World Cup triumph in 2011. The 15-member Indian squad left for Sri Lanka on Wednesday afternoon to play in a five-match ODI series followed by a Twenty20 International commencing on July 21 at Hambantota. The team underwent a two-day training camp in Chennai that was cut short due to heavy rains. The players, under the watchful gaze of coach Duncan Fletcher, went under strenuous session that began from Monday. The captain of the team, MS Dhoni, is confident of a positive start to the new season in Lankan conditions. “We know the Sri Lankan conditions well so we want to start the season with good results,” said the Indian captain at a press conference on Tuesday which was also attended by coach Fletcher. "Most of the players have come back after a long break and the body looks very different and their fielding and other activities look very different," Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni told reporters here before heading to Sri Lanka. "We will make the most of the rest that we have got. It's the start of the season and we want to start it on a good note." India will play 5 ODIs and a T20I in Sri Lanka which starts from 21st July, 2012. After this, India will host New Zealand, play the World Twenty20 Championships and then host England and Pakistan at the end of the year. With PTI inputs