HARARE, Sept 1: Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to pull out of India’s Tests in Zimbabwe later this month because of injury was the right one, captain Saurav Ganguly said on Thursday.

Batsman Tendulkar is recovering from elbow surgery and decided on Wednesday not to play in the two-Test series which starts on Sept 13.

“I think he’s made the right decision if he’s not fully fit,” Ganguly told a news conference in Harare where India are playing a triangular one-day series.

“I don’t think he should risk it. It’s his injury and he knows best.”

Tendulkar has suffered a series of injuries in the last six years attributed largely to the wear and tear of constant cricket since he made his international debut at the age of 16.

The 32-year-old has struggled with the problem in his left elbow for a year.

“We’ll miss him, obviously, but we want him fit for the bigger games,” Ganguly said.

“We have a lot of cricket coming up against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and England.

“That’s going to be tough, so I think it’s good that he’s taking a break now and he can come back completely healed.”

India take on New Zealand in the fifth match of the triangular series, which also involves Zimbabwe, on Friday.

Meanwhile, Tendulkar may not play in the Super Series in October due to his slow recovery from tennis elbow surgery, his doctor was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Orthopaedic specialist Anant Joshi, who is on the Indian cricket board’s medical panel and has monitored Tendulkar’s recovery in Mumbai, told the Times of India that the star batsman may still need “a month and a half” to be fully fit.—Agencies