India seamer Ashish Nehra may miss Saturday's World Cup final against Sri Lanka owing to a finger injury. Even though the BCCI is yet to make an official statement in this regard, team manager Rajib Biswal said the left-arm seamer has fractured the middle-finger of his right hand during yesterday's semifinal match against Pakistan in Mohali.

He said that efforts are being made to get the bowler match-fit through rehabilitation programme but added that if
he does not recover in time, he will be ruled out.

Nehra, who was benched for the last league match and the quarter-final against Australia, was brought in for the Mohali
encounter by skipper MS Dhoni in a gamble that is seen to have paid off.

He took the wickets of Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul while conceding 33 runs in his quota of 10 overs in the semi-final
against Pakistan.

Biswal said that Nehra injured his finger while going for a catch at deep mid-wicket, which was referred to the third
umpire.

Kapil lauds Dhoni
India's World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev lauded MS Dhoni and said his leadership should not be judged by the outcome against Sri Lanka.

"He has done extremely well so far, I wish him luck," he said at a promotional event in New Delhi on Thursday.

Kapil was critical of those who forced twice Cup winning Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to step aside after the quarterfinal defeat.  

He added: "Don't judge Dhoni by whether he wins the trophy or not. Dhoni is a gambler, he showed he can take risks. Yesterday nobody was saying 'why you kept Ashwin out?' 

Dhoni included Nehra as the third seamer and the gamble worked, although he later admitted leaving out Ashwin could have backfired on a slow pitch.