A decision on injured batsman Sachin Tendulkar's availability for India's third and final Test against South Africa will be taken only when the selection committee meets to pick the team, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Saturday.

Tendulkar opted out of the ongoing second Test due to a groin injury sustained during in the drawn first Test in Chennai.

"It's all wrong to say that he has been ruled out of the match. The decision on his availability will be taken at the selection committee meeting, to be held tomorrow (Sunday) or on April 7," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said from Rajkot.

Shah's statement followed reports that the ace batsman has been ruled out of the last Test, to be held at Kanpur from April 11 to 15.

When contacted, chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar, who is in Ahmedabad for the second Test, sounded surprised.

"I don't know anything about it," he emphasized, when asked whether Tendulkar is available or not for the Kanpur match.