Tendulkar has not played one-day cricket for India since the World Cup

Rain in Madras forced the abandonment of the opening match of the one-day series between India and New Zealand.

Sachin Tendulkar was 48 not out with the hosts 141-3 in the 27th over when the heavens opened.

And with no sign of a break in the weather, umpires AV Jayaprakash and David Shepherd were forced to call the match off.

India move to Gwalior, where they play Australia on Sunday, while New Zealand face the Aussies on Wednesday.

Tendulkar was part of a 53-run opening partnership before Virender Sehwag was bowled by Chris Cairns for 31.

After a cameo 25 from the recalled VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh joined Tendulkar in an unbroken stand worth 48 runs in 11 overs.

The teams left the field for 15 minutes after a floodlight failure and had only returned for three overs when the bad weather interrupted.

Rahul Dravid, standing in as captain for while Sourav Ganguly recovers from thigh surgery, had earlier won the toss and decided to bat first.

The hosts left spinner Hemang Badani and pace man L Balaji out of their XI, to the disappointment of local fans.

Cairns returned for New Zealand after missing the recent drawn Test series to rest a knee injury and Jacob Oram returned from a hamstring strain.

Australia are the third team in the tournament.

India: V Sehwag, S R Tendulkar, R Dravid (Capt), V V S Laxman M Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, A Kumble, P A Patel (Wkt), Harbhajan Singh A B Agarkar, Z Khan.