November 04 Monday 2002
Injured Tendulkar to miss Windies one-dayers 

KOLKATA: Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar will miss the one-day series against West Indies starting this week after suffering a hamstring injury in the third and final test on Sunday, officials said. 

Tendulkar, who strained his hamstring during his marathon 176 on the final day on Sunday, will undergo treatment for three weeks, Indian board president Jagmohan Dalmiya told reporters. 

"We received a report from the team physio Andrew Leipus who says the injury is not too severe but he needs rest to prevent further damage and rehabilitate the muscle," Dalmiya said. 

Indian selectors have replaced Tendulkar with left-hander Dinesh Mongia in the 14-player squad. The seven-match one-day series starts on Wednesday.

Tendulkar's seven-hour effort helped India, in serious trouble on the fourth day, to regain their poise as they went on to secure a draw to claim the series 2-0.

Tendulkar, the only batsman to score more than 11,000 one-day runs with a record 33 centuries, said after the test that he had been carrying the injury since the summer test tour of England.

"I aggravated my hamstring which has been troubling me since the England series," he said. 

India won the one-day triangular series with England and Sri Lanka and drew a four-test series with England 1-1 during the June to September trip. 

India skipper Saurav Ganguly said it would be a challenge for them to win the one-dayers against West Indies as key fast bowler Zaheer Khan would also be unavailable for the first three games because of a knee injury. 

"You can't help it -- the (injury) situation has to be faced at some stage rather than leave it later," Ganguly said, referring to India's build-up to the World Cup in South Africa in February and March.