"Sachin Tendulkar is suffering from an inflammation to the bone in his big toe on the right foot," Shivlal Yadav, India's manager, told ESPNcricnfo. "In the past he had a fracture to this bone and yesterday, after the training, he felt a little pinch. In the morning he went for a light jog and felt pain. Immediately he spoke to Ashish Kaushik, the Indian team physio, and both felt it would be safe to rest him for this match. On Monday Tendulkar will visit a surgeon in Southampton."

India have been rocked by a series of injuries on this tour of England, beginning with Zaheer Khan's hamstring pull on the first day of the Lord's Test. Following his withdrawal from the series, the BCCI said he not only suffered from a recurring hamstring problem, but also required surgery on his right ankle. Yuvraj fractured a finger on his left hand, while Harbhajan strained his stomach muscle, during India's crushing defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge, ruling them out of the rest of the tour.

Opener Virender Sehwag, it was understood, had not completely recovered from the shoulder surgery he underwent immediately after the IPL in May, and was suffering from hearing problems in his left ear, after being exposed to a loud sound on July 24, according to the team management. In another major setback, Gautam Gambhir failed to recover from a concussion he picked up while fielding on the third day of the final Test, subsequently missing the limited-overs leg of the tour. He had also missed the second Test at Trent Bridge after being struck on the elbow at Lord's.

Praveen Kumar had also joined India's long list of injured, missing the fourth Test at The Oval because of an injury to his left ankle, before recovering in time for the Twenty20 international on August 31. Ishant Sharma wasn't as fortunate, returning home after the Tests following a ligament injury to his left ankle, which will require surgery, during the third Test at Edgbaston.