Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar on Wednesday said the decision to appoint Sachin Tendulkar as vice-captain was because of the need to have an experienced man to fall back on in the absence of captain Rahul Dravid.

"Ideally, it's good to have an experienced player as your vice- captain, who is also sure of his place in the 11. That's the reason Sachin Tendulkar was appointed vice-captain, so that the team can fall back on him if Rahul gets injured," the former India captain said.

Virender Sehwag, who was till recently the team's vice-captain, was left out of the squad for the first two one-day internationals against the West Indies, scheduled on January 21 and 24.

There was speculation in the media over Tendulkar's appointment as he had not taken up a job involving selection ever since he stepped down as captain in 2000.

Brushing aside the talk that this was the first step towards giving back the team's reins to Tendulkar after the World Cup, Vengsarkar said, "I can't say what can happen in future. Cricket is a game of ifs and buts."

On who would form the opening pair in Sehwag's absence, Vengsarkar said the team management had been given quite a few opening options by the panel and it was for them to decide.

"We have given a lot of choice to the team management for the opening slots. It's up to them to decide," the former India skipper said, referring to the presence of Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa in the squad.