India's Sachin Tendulkar, who has been ruled out of the second Test against Australia starting on Thursday, may still play the remaining two Tests, team officials said.
The star batsman, sidelined for the last two months with a tennis elbow injury, was still not fit enough to take on the world champions, Indian team physiotherapist Andrew Leipus said on Wednesday.
"With this type of injury it is not easy to predict when he will be functional enough to return to international cricket," Leipus said.
"But contrary to some reports, he is definitely not out of the series."
Tendulkar's slow recovery is a blow for the hosts as they bid to level the four-match series after being thrashed by 217 runs in the first Test at Bangalore on Sunday.
Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman in world cricket with 33 Test and a record 37 one-day centuries, has not batted in the nets since the injury struck before a tournament in the Netherlands in mid-August.
Leipus said he could not put a time frame on the 31-year-old's likely return.
"Most tendon injuries do not heal very well and often the intitial attempt to return to sport is met with a recurrence," he said.
"We do not expect Sachin to be feeling 100 percent in the near future. Rather we expect him to fullfil two criteria before playing for India again.
{{/usCountry}}"We do not expect Sachin to be feeling 100 percent in the near future. Rather we expect him to fullfil two criteria before playing for India again.
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