NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India batsman Sachin Tendulkar dismissed media reports yesterday that he was set to retire from one-day cricket.

The Indian Express daily reported on its front page, quoting unnamed sources, that one-day cricket's leading batsman had discussed quitting the format with friends in order to extend his Test career.

"I am batting brilliantly at the moment. Even the thought of retirement has not crossed my mind," Tendulkar told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency in London.

Tendulkar, who top-scored in India's win in the penultimate game over England at The Oval on Wednesday, was even contemplating making the move at Lord's on Saturday when the tour ends with the decisive final match, the report said.

"I am still enjoying the game very much and want to play for as long as I can. Cricket means a lot to me," Tendulkar told PTI.

Tendulkar, 34, has recently spoken about how difficult it was to recover for back-to-back one-day games, having suffered a series of injuries in the past seven years, which had added weight to the speculation.

He has suffered back, hand, foot and elbow injuries, mainly attributed to the wear and tear of constant playing since he burst on to the international scene as a 16-year-old in 1989.

He also opted out of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa starting on Tuesday.

Tendulkar is the leading one-day batsman, having aggregated a record 15,395 runs with 41 hundreds from 394 matches. He has also scored a record 37 Test centuries.

India face Australia in a seven-match one-day series starting on September 29 which will be followed by a Test and one-day series against the visiting Pakistan.

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has defended umpire Peter Hartley after England skipper Paul Collingwood was controversially run out during the defeat by India in Wednesday's one-day international.

Collingwood set off for a risky single and appeared to be struggling to make his ground when India wicketkeeper MS Dhoni whipped off the bails.

Though Hartley initially declined to call for the third umpire, he changed his mind after a replay on the Oval's big screen showed Collingwood was out. The England captain was duly sent to the pavilion having scored just one run.

Collingwood was clearly angry at the circumstances but the ICC said Hartley had not broken any protocol.

"There is nothing to prevent an umpire reversing his decision as long as it is before the next ball has been bowled," an ICC spokesman said yesterday.

"The way he got to the decision was not ideal but the fact is that the right decision (to give Collingwood out) was made.

"He should have referred the decision straight away but he had the presence of mind to refer it once he realised his mistake and the right decision was made.

"Imagine if he had not referred it when Collingwood was clearly out."