Off-spinner Muralitharan, the world bowling record holder, sat out Tuesday's first one-dayer in Rajkot in which the tourists almost chased down India's 414-7 before being restricted to 411-8 in the high-scoring thriller. Fast bowler Fernando injured his finger during that game while trying to take a return catch off Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, team manager Brendon Kuruppu said.

"Fernando hurt his finger during that match. His replacement will be announced shortly," Kuruppu said. "Murali injured his ring and middle fingers in his right hand during the Mumbai Test earlier this month and is going back home. We have decided to rest Murali to allow him to recover fully and be available for future tournaments," he said. Muralitharan, whose 792 Test and 512 one-day wickets are world records, will be replaced by two off-spinners, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Suraj Randiv, for the rest of the series. The duo will join the squad ahead of Friday's second match in Nagpur, Kuruppu said.

Sri Lanka lost the Test series against India 2-0 and both teams won a Twenty20 international each ahead of the one-dayers. Sri Lanka are due to play a tri-series with India and Bangladesh in Dhaka from January 4-13.