RAJKOT (India), Nov 8: Indian captain Rahul Dravid will miss Wednesday’s sixth one-dayer against Sri Lanka here as the hosts continue their rotation policy despite losing the previous match.

Vice-captain Virender Sehwag will lead India in Dravid’s absence, described by coach Greg Chappell as a move to give younger players a chance after holding an unassailable 4-1 lead in the seven-match series.

Dravid suffered a hamstring niggle during his unbeaten century in Sunday’s fifth match in Ahmedabad and did not field, but Chappell insisted the injury was not serious.

“Rahul would have played if he had to but we have to give players adequate rest in a long season,” the former Australian captain said.

Rookie fast bowlers Vikram Rajvir Singh and Sri Sreesanth will join Dravid on the bench from the 15-man squad.

India lost at Ahmedabad by five wickets after resting star batsman Sachin Tendulkar and frontline bowlers Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh. It was a move described as “cocky” by former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

“It took the flexibility theory to dangerous terrain,” Ranatunga wrote in his column for the Press Trust of India. “It was akin to pushing an automobile onto the road without gas.

“Besides, to us it appeared India were cocky.”

Dravid and Chappell insisted the rotation policy will not be abandoned.

“You don’t always find yourself in such a situation when you can experiment with the team against a very good opponent who will be coming at you all guns blazing,” said Dravid.

“So when we got the opportunity we wanted to capitalise on that.

“That does not mean we are not playing to win. We would have liked to win this series 7-0, and now we want to win 6-1.

“But we also won’t mind if the final result of the series is 4-3, if the boys put up a performance like the way they did at Ahmedabad.”

Sri Lanka won the day-night game after India piled up a challenging 295-8 on the back of opener Gautam Gambhir’s century on his first appearance in the series and Dravid’s fluent unbeaten 103.

The inexperienced bowling, however, could not contain the Sri Lankans with Sreesanth going for 0-56, Rudra Pratap Singh 1-54 and Jai Prakash Yadav 0-44 on a dew-laden outfield that made it difficult for bowlers to grip the ball.

Chappell, keen to build a team for the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, said young players will not learn sitting on the sidelines.

“If we keep playing with a winning combination every time we take the field we won’t know what our bench strength is,” he said.—AFP