Tendulkar likely to miss Caribbean tour

Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] may miss the forthcoming cricket tour of the West Indies [ Images ] as he feels he is yet to regain full fitness, it's reliably learnt on Tuesday.

According to sources, Tendulkar, who is recovering from a finger injury, has conveyed to the selectors that he is still not entirely 100 per cent fit and would like to skip the one-day series, the first of the four matches beginning on June 26.

Tendulkar had revealed towards the latter part of the Indian Premier League [ Images ] last month that the finger injury he had sustained during the Test series in New Zealand [ Images ] in April was actually not a bruise but a hairline fracture.

The star bastman is presently in London [ Images ] with his family, as is chief selector Krish Srikkanth and Raja Venkat, selector from East Zone.

The BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan is joining them in England [ Images ] on Tuesday.

It is not yet clear when the team for the West Indies is to be announced but sources indicate it could be by Wednesday, a day after India's campaign in the Twenty20 [ Images ] World Cup gets over at Nottingham.

Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan [ Images ] may also be unavailable for the tour and lack of fitness could be cited as the reason for it.

Selectors are also toying with the idea of dropping Irfan Pathan [ Images ] as the wickets in the Caribbean are slow and his lack of pace might be a handicap.

According to sources, there is little chance of Virender Sehwag [ Images ], who missed the Twenty20 World Cup, making it to the Caribbean tour.

India play four one-day matches in the West Indies, with two games being scheduled in Jamaica (June 26 and 28) and two in St. Lucia (July 3 and 5).

The Indians are expected to leave from England itself for the West Indies on June 22.