Tendulkar opts out of Windies tour

Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the three-Test series in the West Indies starting next month, it was announced on 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." India Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Venkatsai Laxman (vice-capt), 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.