NEW DELHI: Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the three-Test series in the West Indies starting next month, it was announced Friday. Tendulkar, the world's leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket, is on 99 international centuries but will now have to wait for a chance to hit his hundred 100th. He was earlier rested for five one-dayers in the Caribbean. “Tendulkar requested that he be allowed to spend time with his family. He will therefore not play the Test series,” Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement. “However, he will be available for the full tour of England that follows.” Injured opener Gautam Gambhir and unfit all-rounder Yuvraj Singh were ruled out of the West Indies tour. “Gambhir will be unavailable for the full tour of the West Indies on account of his shoulder injury,” said Srinivasan. “Yuvraj will also be unavailable for the full tour. He is suffering from an upper respiratory infection, with a small patch of pneumonitis in the left lung.” Gambhir earlier rejected claims that he covered up a shoulder injury to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL). Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Venkatsai Laxman (vice captain), Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel. Pakistan A wins ODI series Left-arm fast bowler Sadaf Hussain took 4-46 as a second-string Pakistan side defeated Afghanistan by 150 runs in the second one-dayer of their three-match series. The decisive win gave Pakistan A an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the series with the last game to be played in Faisalabad Sunday. Opening batsmen Sharjeel Khan (64) and Babar Azam (63) racked up half centuries while Umar Amin (64) and Sarfraz Ahmed (46) also contributed to an imposing Pakistan A total of 327-7 off 50 overs. Afghanistan was bowled out for 177 in 46.5 overs with Samiullah Shinwari (61) the only player to reach a half-century. Afghanistan is the first foreign team to tour Pakistan since gunmen attacked a Sri Lanka team bus at Lahore in 2009.
