Sachin injured after equaling Sanath’s ODI record

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s Sachin Tendulkar has been ruled out of the last three one-day internationals against South Africa due to a hamstring injury, the Indian cricket board said on Sunday.

Wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, who has opened for India in ODIs in the past, will fly to South Africa as Tendulkar’sreplacement, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement. Tendulkar, who holds almost all of cricket’s batting records, injured his hamstring during his 24-run knock in the second ODI against South Africa on Saturday, which India won by a run to level the five-match series 1-1.

On Saturday, the right-handed batsman equalled Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of 444 ODIs.

Regular openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, and paceman Praveen Kumar, have already been ruled out of the series due to injuries.

Selectors meet on Monday to pick the 15-member squad for the Feb. 19-April 2 World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.