Ganguly likely to play Duleep Trophy

Sourav Ganguly should be fit enough to play for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against North Zone from October 20. Ganguly has been suffering from early symptoms of tennis elbow, but a doctor attending to him said his condition is getting better.

"He is improving," said Kalyan Mukherjee, an orthopaedic surgeon. "If this trend continues, and he responds to the treatment, then I see no reason why he can't play the Duleep [Trophy] match at Rajkot."

The final decision on this matter will be taken by Dr Ananth Joshi, the sports-medicine expert, when he examines Ganguly on October 18. John Gloster, the team physiotherapist, is also expected to be present during the examination.

The elbow problem for Ganguly first cropped up during the Indian team's tour to Zimbabwe, and also kept him out of the Challenger Series in Mohali. Ganguly was also left out of the Indian squad for the first two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka later this month, with the selectors indicating that he would have to prove his fitness first.