Tendulkar pulls out of Surat Duleep tie

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has pulled out of the West Zone squad for the four-day Duleep Trophy cricket league match between South Zone and West Zone to be held at Surat from January 18 to 21.

Tendulkar, who has pulled out of the side due to personal reasons and did not play in the first two Duleep ties, is likely to play the last match against East Zone at Rajkot from February 1 to 4, a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) source said in Mumbai on Monday.

All rounder Ajit Agarkar has been named in the 15-member squad which will be led by former India stumper Nayan Mongia.

The team: Nayan Mongia (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Connor Williams, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Jacob Martin, Abhijit Kale, Niraj Patel, Iqbal Siddiqui, Sairaj Bahutule, Rakesh Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Vinod Kambli, Valmik Buch, Ramesh Powar and Prashant Joshi.