Sachin's injury: A big blow to India

mumbai: true to the saying misfortune comes in twos, comes the news that sachin tendulkar will miss a major part of the upcoming triangular series in sri lanka from july 20 involving new zealand and the hosts, besides india. tendulkar will miss five league games, all three against sri lanka and two of the three against new zealand. bcci secretary j.y.lele told the media after the team was picked that he will play the last league game against new zealand on august 2 and the final, if india reach it. this sad news has come close on the heels of india's unexpected loss in the final of the triangular series to west indies in zimbabwe. the india team returned last night and skipper saurav ganguly, who attended the selection committee meeting at hotel meridien, near the international airport in the afternoon before taking the flight to his home kolkata, gave the bad news to the selectors. bcci secretary j.y. lele said: "saurav told us that sachin found it difficult to even wear his boots on the day of the final. he played only because it was the final and hemang badani and dinesh mongia, two batsmen, were already injured." lele expressed ignorance about the exact nature of the injury. but said it has to do with the sole of his foot. his teammates were also in the dark about it and all they said was that his foot needed heavy bandaging before he took the field. lele said: "sachin has said he cannot play at the moment. but on recovery he is expected to leave on july 31." this will be the first tour sachin is missing since he opted out of the lg cup in kenya because of a back problem, that became the subject of much conjecture. he hasn't suffered any serious injuries since then.