Injured Sachin Tendulkar returns, Parthiv Patel joins squad

Johannesburg/Mumbai : With the World Cup squad to be announced on Monday, Indian selectors received a set-back as Sachin Tendulkar suffered a hamstring injury Saturday night during the second One-day International here, forcing him to return home and Parthiv Patel filling in the position.

“Sachin Tendulkar will not take further part in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa due to a hamstring injury. Parthiv Patel is being flown to South Africa as his replacement,” said N. Srinivasan, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honorary secretary.

Tendulkar injured his right hamstring during his 24-run innings against the Proteas at the Wanderers 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, 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.