Injured Sachin Tendulkar to return home

Johannesburg:

Sachin Tendulkar handed a injury concern to India just a day before the World Cup team selection after he was ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against South Africa because of a hamstring problem.

Tendulkar injured his right hamstring during his 24-run innings in the second ODI against the Proteas at the Wanderers on Saturday, which India won by a slender one run margin to level the series 1-1.

Tendulkar did not field during the South African innings and in the post-match press conference India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni confirmed that the champion batsman will not take part in the remaining three ODIs of the five-match series.

"Sachin (Tendulkar) has sustained an injury and he will not be playing the next 3 matches. He will be going back," Dhoni said.

With this, Sachin has become the fourth Indian cricketer to return home due to injury after openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, and pacer Praveen Kumar.

Earlier, Tendulkar Tendulkar had achieved another milestone in his career on Saturday, when he equalled Sanath Jayasuriya's record of being the most capped player in One-Day International cricket.

The second ODI against South Africa was Tendulkar's 444th match, the same as Sri Lankan legend Jayasuriya's.

Tendulkar's injury is a worrying development for India ahead of the World Cup as the national selectors will pick the squad for the mega-event tomorrow in Chennai.