AHMEDABAD, April 5: India’s injured star batsman Sachin Tendulkar will also miss the third and final Test against South Africa, officials said on Saturday.

Tendulkar was ruled out of the game, starting in Kanpur on April 11, after failing to recover from a groin strain that also kept him out of the second Test here.

“Tendulkar will be unavailable for selection for the third Test due to his right groin injury. He is making good progress but he has not recovered sufficiently,” cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.

“This decision has been taken to give him the opportunity to make a full recovery from this injury. He has a rehabilitation programme to continue with and will be monitored closely,” the statement added.

Tendulkar, who needs 172 runs to overtake West Indian Brian Lara as Test cricket’s leading run-scorer, will now have to wait for India’s next assignment against Sri Lanka in July to achieve the milestone.

The ace batsman, who unfortunately fell for zero in the drawn first Test at Chennai, has 11,782 runs from 147 Tests.—AFP