Fitness a worry as India prepare for South Africa tour

The Indian cricket squad was trying to sort out major fitness problems on Friday, two days before leaving on a Test tour of South Africa.

A spate of injuries has undermined the squad in the past few months and continues to dog them as they prepare to leave on Monday for their third consecutive overseas tour in four months.

India will play in a one-day triangular series also involving Kenya from October 5 to 26 before taking on the world's second-ranked Test team in a three-match series in November.

Dubbed poor travellers because of their inability to win a Test series outside the Indian sub-continent in 15 years, India will be under pressure to bounce back after suffering a 1-2 Test series defeat in Sri Lanka early this month in the absence of leading batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman.

Tendulkar, who was sidelined because of a foot fracture, has recovered and returned to regular training.

But Laxman, who hit an Indian Test record of 281 in the upset home series victory over Australia early this year, is ruled out of the South African one-dayers because he has not fully recovered from knee surgery he underwent last month.

Three others are also sidelined from the 15-man squad originally named as Sourav Ganguly's side grapple with a problem attributed mainly to a hectic schedule.

Worried by the spate of injuries, the national selectors have asked the entire squad to undergo fitness tests in Bombay over the weekend.

Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of the one-dayers because of a leg injury and batsman Hemang Badani is nursing a back problem.

Indian cricket officials have also said paceman Ashish Nehra has not recovered from a groin problem and will be replaced but the bowler himself disagrees and has said he will prove his fitness at the weekend trials.

Chief selector Chandu Borde has accused players of concealing injuries, leaving them with little time to recover for important tours.

Madan Lal, a former Test player who is a national selector, said fitness tests should be made mandatory in future.

"Medical tests should be made a standard practice before every tour. The board must make it a rule and hold it say a week or 15 days before every tour," he said.

The Indians will be under pressure to improve their record of losing in the finals of eight consecutive one-day tournaments.

Their overseas Test record has also been poor. They have not won a Test series outside the sub-continent since beating England in 1986.

The poor performances are mainly attributed to the failure of their batsmen, weaned on slow turning pitches at home, to come good on pacy tracks abroad.

"Unless you expose young talent to alien conditions frequently it's going to be tough," former Test batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu said.

Mail Cricket Editor