Sachin Tendulkar, India’s biggest cricket star, has skipped the Olympic torch relay.

The move is seen as one of the biggest blows yet to China’s build-up to the Beijing Games.

Tendulkar, also known as “The Little Master”, hails from the Indian state of Maharashtra. He commands more adulation than any other cricket star in India. In Canada, that equates to something along the lines of Wayne Gretzky or the 2002 Canadian Olympic Gold medal winners of Salt Lake City.

The Indian Olympic Association confirmed Tendulkar’s withdrawal April 16, as 15,000 Indian security personnel prepared to shut down the centre of New Delhi to prevent Tibetan exiles from disrupting the relay. The torch arrived from Pakistan for what is seen as the most sensitive stretch of its global relay. India is home to some 120,000 Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama.

Tendulkar did not officially state the reasons for his absence from the torch relay.