Tendulkar gears up for England Tests

Record-breaking Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar will make a rare appearance in domestic four-day cricket next week to gain match practice ahead of the home Test series against England.

The 39-year-old, the world's leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket, was named Friday in a 13-man Mumbai squad for a four-day Ranji Trophy match against Railways starting in Mumbai on November 2.

Tendulkar, whose last Ranji appearance was in 2009, struggled in a home Test series against New Zealand in August-September when he scored just 63 runs in three innings.

Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar even suggested during the second Test against New Zealand in Bangalore that Tendulkar's reflexes were on the slide after the batsman was bowled in all three innings.

Tendulkar has made a record 51 Test centuries but has now gone 25 innings without a hundred in the five-day game since making 146 against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2011.

He has scored a world record Test (15,553) and one-day (18,426) runs and has also compiled an unprecedented 100 international centuries.

The selectors also named India's left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan in the Mumbai side.

England open their tour with a three-day practice match against India 'A' in Mumbai on October 30. It will be followed by two more warm-up games before the four-Test series starts in Ahmedabad on November 15.

The tourists, who also play two Twenty20 internationals on the first leg of their tour, will go home for Christmas and return for a five-match one-day series starting on January 11.