Ganguly failed pre-match fitness test

Clearing the air over the captain's last-minute pull-out from the third Test, India's physio said the decision was taken after a morning test.

Clearing the air over Sourav Ganguly's last-minute pull-out from the third Test against Australia, physiotherapist Andrew Leipus said the decision to leave out the skipper was taken after he failed a pre-match fitness test on Tuesday morning.

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"We had a small fitness test at the ground this morning. He suffered an upper thigh strain while practicing two days ago and thought yesterday he would be fine when he got up today," Leipus told a press conference after the opening day's play in Nagpur.

"But it was not so and he couldn't transfer the weight from one leg to another while batting. So we decided it would be unwise to go ahead (with him)."

Asked for how long he expected the Indian skipper to be out of action, Leipus said he could not answer the question as the source of the pain would have to be investigated through a bone scan first.

On whether the injury was originally picked on the first day of the opening Test of the series in Bangalore early this month, he said: "I think so."