Chris Cairns may miss Independence Cup

Kiwi allrounder Chris Cairns may miss the tour to India in May.

New Zealand coach Steve Rixon says he wants Cairns to undergo an operation to repair an ankle injury immediately after the Test and one-day series against Sri Lanka concludes later this month.

Sri Lanka's tour of Kiwiland ends with a one-dayer in Wellington on March 27. New Zealand's opening game in the Independence Cup quadrangular one day competition in India is against Pakistan on May 9 at either Cochin or New Delhi.

Cairns faces a six-week recuperation after the operation, which gives him little chance of being fit to play in India. He suffered the injury while competing in Gavin Larsen's testimonial match in Wellington shortly before the second Test against England last month.

He bowled ineffectively in that Test, and the third Test and in the first one-day international against England on February 20. He has not bowled since.

Cairns has been named as a specialist batsman in the New Zealand side for the Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts in Dunedin on Friday.

A recent set of x-rays has revealed that Cairns has chipped a bone in his ankle. New Zealand team physiotherapist Mark Plummer said the bone needed to be surgically removed, followed by a six-week convalescence