Tendulkar opts out of Irani Trophy

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has opted himself out from the Irani Trophy between Delhi and Rest of India because of an elbow injury. Ranji Trophy Champions Delhi will take on the Anil Kumble-led Rest of India starting from Sep 24 to 28 at Vadodara.

Tendulkar, who had suffered an elbow injury during the third and final Test match against Sri Lanka in Colombo last month was out of the One-Day series, will now miss the season opening in Irani.

With this, his availability at least for the first Test against Australia in Bangalore starting from October 9 is in shade. He has been advised for a week rest ahead of the crucial Australia series, and the speedy recovery in the next couple of weeks can only make things clear.

Meanwhile, he has been replaced by S. Badrinath for the Irani Trophy.

Earlier commenting on the forthcoming series against Australia, Tendulkar said: "It's going to be extremely well fought series and in the right spirit. All the spectators get to watch some terrific cricket being played because I have no doubt in my mind that it's going to be a close series people would love it."

Irani Trophy (Sep24-28)

Rest of India: Anil Kumble (c), S Badrinath, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, RP Singh, Ashok Dinda.

Delhi Team (Likely): Akash Chopra, Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Mayank Tehlan, Puneet Bisht, Chetanya Nanda, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhaman.

In the touring Australian squad named last week, Symonds was omitted after missing a compulsory team meeting and to go fishing.

Australia named uncapped leg-spinner Bryce McGain, who could make his test debut at the age of 36, and offspinner Jason Krejza in the squad to replace retired Stuart MacGill.

Talking about the new spinner Krejza, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said that the 25-year-old debutant Jason Krejza has the potential and skill to counter India's strong batting order.

For sure, India-Australia series is going to be a cut-throat one and hence the availability of Sachin is crucial for Indian team to take the advantage in batting in home condition.