Tendulkar doubtful for Super Series

Sachin Tendulkar: will he, won't he? © Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar's participation in the forthcoming ICC Super Series in October remains in doubt owing to his slow recovery from his elbow surgery. According to Anant Joshi, an orthopaedic specialist who is on the Indian board's medical panel and has monitored Tendulkar's recovery in Mumbai, Tendulkar may still need "a month and a half" to be fully fit.

"I saw him on Tuesday and I noticed that the muscles on his left hand are weaker than the right hand," Joshi told the Times of India a day after Tendulkar, 32, withdrew from the two-Test series in Zimbabwe, starting on September 13 at Bulawayo. "It should possibly take a month and a half from here. Sachin too does not want to rush back into cricket. I doubt if Sachin will take the risk of going to Australia in the first week of October for the Super Series."

Joshi added that he was not surprised that Tendulkar's recovery was taking time. "It all depends on a person," he continued. "There are quite a lot of sportspersons who had to play with a tennis elbow. In Sachin's case, all I can say is that the rehabilitation process is taking a long time. Ideally, we want to get him into a match situation, but it all depends on him, his confidence level."

Tendulkar, who is included in both world squads, underwent a surgery in May after a precautionary medical check-up revealed a tendon tear in his left elbow. The injury was first detected in August last year, and Tendulkar was forced to miss the one-day tournament in the Netherlands, the Champions Trophy in England in September and two home Tests against Australia in October.

He only returned for the last two Tests of the series and played further matches against South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan before the season ended in April.

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Michael Vaughan, who were surprisingly omitted from the original squads, have been named stand-bys in case Tendulkar is unable to play. The clash against Australia starts with three one-day matches on October 5, 7 and 9 in Melbourne and a six-day Test in Sydney from October 14.