Tendulkar opts out of Windies tour

CRICKET: NEW DELHI, May 28 (AFP) - Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the three-Test series in the West Indies starting next month, it was announced on Friday.

Tendulkar, the world's leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket, is on 99 international centuries but will now have to wait for a chance to hit his 100th. He was earlier rested for five one-dayers in the Caribbean.

"Tendulkar requested that he be allowed to spend time with his family. He will therefore not play the Test series," Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

"However, he will be available for the full tour of England that follows."

Injured opener Gautam Gambhir and unfit all-rounder Yuvraj Singh were ruled out of the West Indies tour.

"Gambhir will be unavailable for the full tour of the West Indies on account of his shoulder injury," said Srinivasan.

"Yuvraj will also be unavailable for the full tour. He is suffering from an upper respiratory infection, with a small patch of pneumonitis in the left lung."

Suresh Raina will lead the one-day side in the absence of Gambhir, who was earlier named captain.

Batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Manoj Tiwary have been named as replacements for Gambhir and Yuvraj for the one-day series and single Twenty20 against the Windies.

India open the tour with the Twenty20 game in Trinidad on June 4, followed by one-dayers and Tests.

Gambhir and Yuvraj are among six regular players out of the one-day series, the others being Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Zaheer Khan.

World Cup-winning captain Dhoni and paceman Zaheer were earlier rested along with Tendulkar for the one-dayers, while hard-hitting opener Sehwag was ruled out after suffering a shoulder injury. Dhoni and Zaheer returned to the Test squad, which features a newcomer in Abhinav Mukund.

India Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Venkatsai Laxman (vice-capt), Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel.

T20 and one-day squad: Suresh Raina (capt), Harbhajan Singh (vice-capt), Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Manoj Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha.