Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Tendulkar rested for first three ODIs vs England

Sachin Tendulkar will be rested from the opening three matches of the seven-game one-day cricket series against England starting next week after India named a 15-man squad Wednesday.

Tendulkar has not played in the one-day international side since the tri-series victory over Australia in March, but the selectors granted his wish for a break.

"Considering the hectic schedule ahead and the amount of cricket he has already played this season, Sachin Tendulkar requested that he be rested for the first three ODIs," Indian board secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement. "The selectors accepted his request."

A groin injury ruled Tendulkar out of series in Bangladesh and Pakistan earlier in the year and he suffered a left-elbow problem during the test campaign against Sri Lanka in August, preventing him from taking part in the one-day matches.

Tendulkar has scored a world-record 16,361 runs in 417 one-day internationals, with 42 centuries. Opener Virender Sehwag, who twisted his left ankle during the Sri Lanka tour, was also included in the squad that will be led by wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Murali Vijay, the Tamil Nadu batsman who has been called into the fourth-test squad, was also included along with Gautam Gambhir, who he replaces in Nagpur. Gambhir is suspended for the match for elbowing Australian Shane Watson in the third test in New Delhi.

India, currently ranked No.3, beat Sri Lanka 3-2 on its tour there in August after being runners-up to the same team in the Asia Cup held in Karachi in July.

England will arrive in Mumbai on Thursday and will play practice matches against a team from Mumbai on November 9 and 11. The first one-day international starts in Rajkot on November 14, while the two-test series begins in Ahmedabad on December 11.

Fifth-ranked England beat South Africa 4-0 at home in the one-day international series in September, but its players suffered a setback to morale with a thumping defeat in a Twenty20 exhibition against the Stanford Superstars in Antigua on Saturday.

The team of West Indian players collected US$1m each for the victory while England went home empty handed.

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India one-day squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Rudra Pratap Singh, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay. England one-day squad: Kevin Pietersen (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.

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