Injured Vettori unlikely to make India tour

Daniel Vettori is unlikely to make the upcoming India tour due to a groin strain. The injury had kept him out of New Zealand's second Test against West Indies last week as well. Vettori has been New Zealand's lead Test spinner for over a decade and would have been a key member of the attack in the India series.

"'[There's] a 90% chance that he won't be there," Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, said. "So we've got to look forward to seeing how the next spinner gets on over there." New Zealand are yet to announce their squad for the series, but the frontrunner to take Vettori's place is legspinner Tarun Nethula, who had been the second slow bowler on the recent West Indies tour.

The India series starts on August 23, with the first of two Tests. There are also two Twenty20s lined up. New Zealand have just completed a difficult tour of the Caribbean, where they were comprehensively beaten in all three formats.