M S Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and seven others leave for South Africa

Mumbai : Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar along with seven other Indian cricketers left for South Africa in the wee hours of Monday.

Besides Dhoni and Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Sreesanth, Wriddhiman Saha, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma and Team manager Ranjib Biswal also departed for Cape Town via Dubai for the three-match Test series beginning December 16.

Sehwag was supposed to leave with the first batch on December 6 but changed his plans as he was indisposed.

The first batch comprised Cheteshwar Pujara, Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav and coach Gary Kirsten.

V.V.S.Laxman and Rahul Dravid left for South Africa on Tuesday.
The remaining members, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Murali Vijay who are playing ODIs against New Zealand that conclude on December 10, would leave on December 12.

The three-Test series against South Africa starts on December 16 at Centurion.