Dhoni suffered a 'hairline crack' in thumb

The injury that has forced the Indian selectors to rest MS Dhoni for the remainder of the ODI series against Sri Lanka and, more importantly, the first Test against Australia in Brisbane is a hairline crack at the base of his right thumb, ESPNcricinfo has learnt.

A source told ESPNcricinfo that the decision to not play Dhoni for the first Test was taken as a precaution given the proximity of the Australia tour to the World Cup.

"He could well have risked playing in Brisbane but eventually it was decided against playing him in the opening Test since nobody wants the injury to recur or aggravate with the World Cup set to start in a little over two months after the Brisbane Test," a source said.

There was confusion over the exact nature of Dhoni's injury before the selection committee meeting in Mumbai on Monday. On the eve of the meeting, a BCCI insider revealed that Dhoni was recovering from a "right forearm" injury. By the time the selectors finished the meeting, an aide close to Dhoni said it was a "wrist" injury. Two hours later, BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told reporters that Dhoni had been advised rest after hurting his "right thumb".

Dhoni was reportedly carrying the injury during the brief ODI series against West Indies where he aggravated it. Incidentally, two weeks earlier, while announcing the squad for the first ODIs against Sri Lanka, the board had stated that Dhoni was "rested", but did not reveal the nature of the injury then.

The fact that Dhoni's injury was more serious than it was made out to be was evident from the fact that Virat Kohli arrived for the selection committee meeting. The night before, as stand-in captain, Kohli had led India to their third successive win against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad, sealing the series. The rest of the team moved on to Kolkata for the fourth match, while Kohli along with coach Duncan Fletcher stopped over in Mumbai.

The team for the remainder of the Sri Lanka series was also due to be picked, but the selectors asked Kohli to come down since they wanted him to be a part of the deliberations about the Australia squad as he will be in charge of the team for the first three weeks on the tour. While clarifying that the strength of the squad is actually 18 members - and not 19 as listed in the BCCI media release - Patel said that Dhoni will join the squad in Australia only after the first Test in Brisbane.

Despite his injury, Dhoni has been respecting all his professional commitments, including an ad commercial shoot for a BCCI sponsor, endorsements and BCCI meetings.