Tendulkar out of ODI series

LONDON:

India batsman Sachin Tendulkar will have to wait a little longer for his 100th international century after being ruled out of the remainder of the One-Day International (ODI) series with England.

India team manager Shivlal Yadav said the star player faces up to four weeks on the sidelines after suffering a toe injury. No replacement will be called up as India attempt to restore some pride after their 4-0 drubbing by England in the recently-concluded Test series after which the tourists suffered a loss in the one-off Twenty20 as well.

Tendulkar, who has scored a record 18,111 ODI runs at an average of 45.2, is currently one century away from becoming the first player to hit a ton of international hundreds.

The opening match of India’s ODI series with England was abandoned on Saturday with the tourists well on top, adding to their frustration on the tour. However, the world’s number-one ranked ODI team will be looking to continue from where they left off when they play the second match that takes place at the Rose Bowl in Southampton today.

Tendulkar is the eighth player to depart India’s unhappy and disastrous tour of England.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2011.