Sachin Tendulkar will miss the remainder of the five-match one-day series in South Africa after injuring his right hamstring in the second ODI on Saturday.
Tendulkar, who equalled Sanath Jayasuriya's record for the most ODI appearances (444), injured himself when batting. He received on-field assistance from the physio and didn't take the field for South Africa's innings.
Team manager Ranjib Biswal confirmed that Tendulkar would return home — the fourth instance of an injured first-choice player leaving South Africa either ahead of or during the limited-over series.
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir withdrew after the Test series while Praveen Kumar returned home after the Twenty20 International.
Precautionary move
Like the other three, Tendulkar's departure is seen as a precautionary move ahead of the World Cup which begins next month.
A BCCI release said Parthiv Patel will be flown in as his replacement
The options
Among Dhoni's choices to open are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who have shown they can do the job in limited-over cricket.
Dhoni also expressed confidence that M. Vijay, who opened in the first two games, would find form.
