Nagpur: Rahul Dravid is eagerly looking forward to the return of Sachin Tendulkar to the Team India ranks.

“He (Sachin) is a regular member of side, it will be great to have him back in the side,” said the Team India captain.

“As always, I am really keen to be playing alongside him? I think his presence can have an impact on the series versus Sri Lanka,” said Dravid on arrival from Australia via Mumbai.

Dravid expressed confidence that India had it in them to beat the Lankans. “Playing good cricket will get us the right results, I’m sure.”

Sachin will be returning to the Indian team after a long injury-induced lay-off. India take on Sri Lanka in seven one-day Internationals, the first of which is at Nagpur on Tuesday.

The Sri Lanka series will be followed immediately by a five-match ODI home series against South Africa. Dravid has been appointed captain of both the home series’.

Dravid, anxious to see his newborn son, skipped the team’s preparatory camp in Bangalore and flew to Nagpur.

Lankans arrive

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankans arrived in Chennai on Thursday amid tight security. The 15-member squad, led by captain Maravan Atapattu and coached by Tom Moody, landed at the international airport here at around 4.40 pm.

Citing Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) orders, most players avoided taking questions from reporters, saying they can’t because an official press conference has been scheduled in Mumbai on Friday.

However, Sanath Jayasuriya, who had suffered a freak shoulder injury on Wednesday, said it was not a serious one and he was confident of being fully fit before the series gets underway.

Star off spinner Muttiah Muralidharan said he was looking forward to the Test series against India scheduled to be held in December. (PTI)