IML 2025: Why is Sachin Tendulkar not playing for India Masters Today? Who is Captaining India?

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The legends of cricket have taken the field in the International Masters League 2025. The inaugural season is seeing top stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and others in action.

After the Navi Mumbai and Vadodara phases, the tournament has now shifted to Raipur for its final course.

India Masters are taking on West Indies Masters in their IML 2025 match on Saturday (March 8) but Sachin Tendulkar, who is leading the Indian team, is absent in the match. The legendary cricketer has rolled back the years with some scintillating shot-making but the Raipur crowd was disheartened to not see him in action on Saturday.

IML 2025: Why is Sachin Tendulkar not playing for India Masters vs West Indies?

Sachin Tendulkar is not playing in the match against West Indies because he has likely been rested. Sources close to the tournament told MyKhel that the legendary player was in practice for India Masters and perhaps been rested to manage his work load. At the age of 51, Tendulkar had played the first matches and India have also qualified for the knockouts, which means they could afford to rest him for the match.

There is also a possibility that the India legend may be in attendance for the Champions Trophy 2025 Final in Dubai on Sunday. India are playing New Zealand and although unconfirmed, Tendulkar may have been invited by ICC as a guest for the match.

The legendary India player has already scored 114 runs in the IML 2025 season, with a massive strike rate of 163. Tendulkar's best knock so far came against Australia Masters where he scored 64 runs in just 33 deliveries, although it came in a losing cause for the India Masters.

Who is Captaining India Masters Today?

In Sachin Tendulkar's absence, Yuvraj Singh is leading the Indian team while Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu opened the batting for them.