Injured Tendulkar out of England ODI series

Sachin Tendulkar has been ruled out of the entire ODI series against England because of a toe injury.

His exit is a massive blow to the Indian team, which has already been laid low by a spate of injuries to key players.

Tendulkar was carrying the injury for quite a while, but the problem aggravated just before the opening match of the five-match series at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.

The 38-year-old batsman missed the opening match of the ODI series because of an inflamation of the toe and will need at least four weeks to recover fully.

"Tendulkar has been ruled out of the series and he will take another four weeks to regain fitness," team manager Shivlal Yadav said.

The veteran batsman, who captains Mumbai Indians, is also almost certain to miss the Champions League Twenty20, to be held at four venues in the country from September 19 to October 9.

The batting maestro, who is just one short of completing 100 international centuries, will have to wait longer for the incredible milestone after this latest injury.

It's been a wretched tour so far for India, who lost the Test series 0-4 before being handed a defeat in the lone Twenty20 match as well.

The team is already missing key players – Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, all out due to injuries.

Sharma was the last to be ruled out after, after being hit by a Stuart Broad delivery in the 38th over of the Indian innings of the first ODI.

He retired hurt after facing that ball. A check-up revealed a fracture.

While Sehwag is out because of hearing problems, Gambhir was forced to return due to blurred vision, following an awkward fall during the fourth Test at The Oval.

Zaheer, on the other hand, has already undergone an ankle surgery.