Tendulkar chosen for India's World Cup squad despite injury

India have named Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in their 15-man squad for the World Cup despite the trio returning home during the ongoing series in South Africa with injuries.

Tendulkar flew back to India after sustaining a hamstring injury during his team's one-run victory against South Africa on Saturday in the second one-day international. Earlier, Sehwag and Gambhir had pulled out of the series and India's bowling attack in the one-dayers was further depleted after injuries to Praveen Kumar and Shantha Sreesanth.

Sreesanth was omitted from the World Cup squad, but Kumar was selected alongside Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir, with the quartet expected to be fully fit in time for the tournament which begins on 19 February.

The chairman of selectors, K Srikanth, claimed that India have chosen the "best combination possible". "This is a very well balanced team," he added.