Gambhir confident of Champions Trophy return

Gautam Gambhir is confident he will recover in time for the Champions Trophy from his injury that has kept him out of the ongoing tri-series in Sri Lanka. He had to pull out on the eve of India's first match because of a groin strain, which he had aggravated during a nets session.

"I am going to get fit before the Champions Trophy for sure," Gambhir told Cricinfo in Bangalore, where he is undergoing rest and rehabilitation. "It's a groin strain, so it would have taken me a week to 10 days - and our first game is on the 26th [in the Champions Trophy]. And I want to get fit before that."

His withdrawal from the tri-series was more of a precautionary measure: India already don't have Virender Sehwag's services for the Champions Trophy, and didn't want to risk Gambhir for the big event.

"If I had continued playing there, it would have aggravated, and there's a long season up ahead," Gambhir said. "I didn't want to take that risk. The Champions Trophy is much more important."

Gambhir is undergoing rehabilitation under the supervision of the physio-trainer team of Paul Chapman and Paul Close at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, and he could head home to New Delhi sometime next week because he will only require rest. It is believed to be a minor strain. Nonetheless, it will be a tricky decision for India, who risked taking a half-fit Sehwag to England for the World Twenty20 and ended up an opener short. This, though, is a smaller injury in comparison.