Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out of the entire ODI series against England because of a toe injury, dealing a massive blow to a struggling India, which has already been laid low by a spate of injuries to key players.
Tendulkar was carrying this injury for quite a while, but the problem aggravated just before the opening match of the five—match series at Chester—le—Street on Saturday.
The 38—year—old Tendulkar missed the opening match of the ODI series because of an inflamation of the toe injury, and will need at least four weeks to recover fully.
“Tendulkar has been ruled out of the series and he will take another four weeks to regain fitness,” team manager Shivlal Yadav said.
The veteran batsman, who captains the Mumbai Indians, is also almost certain to miss the Champions League Twenty20 event to be held at four venues in the country from September 19 to October 9.
The batting maestro, who is just one short of completing the incredible milestone of 100 international centuries, will have to wait with this latest injury.
It has been a wretched tour so far for India, who lost the Test series 0—4 before being handed a defeat in the lone Twenty20 match as well.
The team is already missing key players such as Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan due to injuries.
Sharma was the last Indian cricketer to have been ruled out after being hit by a Stuart Broad delivery in the 38th over of the Indian innings during the first ODI.
Sharma retired hurt after facing that ball. He went for a check up and a fracture was confirmed.
While Sehwag is out because of hearing problems, Gambhir has been forced to go back due to blurred vision following an awkward fall during a Test. Zaheer, on the other hand, has already undergone an ankle surgery.
