Tendulkar's absence will not add pressure during Bangladesh tri-series: Gautam Gambhir

New Delhi, Dec 30 (ANI): Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has said Sachin Tendulkar's absence from next month's triangular one-day cricket series against Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh, will not have added pressure on him.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Gambhir said: "I don't think that if Sachin is not in the team, then I have some added responsibility over me. Whether Sachin is playing or not, the amount of pressure remains same over me. My task is to score runs and I approach every match the same way. It's an honour to play for India, so I want to score in every match and help the country in maximum victories."

Tendulkar has opted out of next month's tournament to save himself for the upcoming test series against Bangladesh.

Tendulkar told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) he wanted a break from the shorter version of the game but would be available for the two tests.

Rohit Sharma was called in to replace Tendulkar in just one of several changes to the 16-man squad for the limited-overs series, starting in Bangladesh from January 4.

Yuvraj Singh, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda and Amit Mishra were also added to the lineup while Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha were all omitted.

The tournament ends with the final on January 13 with the first of the two tests commencing in Chittagong on January 17. (ANI)