NEW DELHI, Aug 12: Rahul Dravid of India and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka on Friday withdrew from next week’s one-day series between Asia and Africa, sending the already troubled inaugural event into a tail-spin.

The star duo joined a steady parade of cricketers to opt out of the made-for-television series to be played in the South African venues of Centurion, Pretoria on April 17 and Durban on April 20 and 21.

Indian cricket board secretary Karunakaran Nair said Dravid had withdrawn for unspecified personal reasons, while Jayasuriya wanted to recover from a shoulder injury sustained during the recent tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Nair did not say who will replace the seasoned pair.

Pakistan’s Rana Navedul Hasan dropped out of the Asia team last week due to his commitments with English county Sussex, and seamers Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka and Irfan Pathan of India withdrew on Thursday due to injuries.

Asia, led by Inzamamul Haq of Pakistan, does not include one-day cricket’s leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar, nursing an elbow injury, and Sourav Ganguly, who was not selected.

Africa are without the South African trio of Makhaya Ntini, Herschelle Gibbs and Andre Nel, who were not available, and another South African Albie Morkel and Zimbabwe’s Andy Blignaut due to injuries.

Africa will be captained by Shaun Pollock for the first two games while his South African captain Graeme Smith takes over for the third match after completing a ban for slow over-rates.

Zimbabwe’s Heath Streak and Tatenda Taibu will also miss the first two matches, which clash with the second Test against New Zealand at Bulawayo from Aug 15-19.—AFP