Tendulkar pulls out of Afro-Asia Cup, Ganguly to replace him

New Delhi, May 28 (UNI) Master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar has been replaced by Sourav Ganguly in the 14-member Asian squad for the next month's Afro-Asia Cup in India.

Chetan Chauhan, the Indian representative in the four-member selection committee of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), confirmed that Tendulakar has pulled out of the Cup, but said he did not know the reason behind the pullout.

''Sachin has informed the BCCI about his decision and the BCCI has passed on this information to the ACC,'' Chauhan told UNI.

''The BCCI has not disclosed any reason to the ACC about his decision. They just told that he (Sachin) has opted out of the tournament,'' he added.

Chauhan also said former captain Sourav Ganguly has been named as the replacement for Tendulkar.

''After having a telephonic conversation between us (four selectors), we have named Sourav Ganguly as Tendulkar's replacement,'' he said, adding, ''Zaheer Khan would replace Vaas and Farveez Maharoof would come in for injured Lasith Malinga.'' Tendulkar is the fourth player to have opted out of the three-match ODI series between Asia's cricketing giants and their African counterparts.

Earlier, Pakistan's dope-tainted pacer Shoaib Akhtar and Sri Lankan pace duo of Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga had pulled out due to injury concerns.

When quizzed about the effect of non-availability of top players on the tournament, Chauhan said, ''Some stars like Tendulkar, Vaas, Shoaib may be missing, but there are many other big stars like Ganguly, Jayawardene, Jayasuriya, Yuvraj etc who will be playing.'' UNI