Nehra out of contention

India cricket team physio Andrew Leipus and Board of Control for Cricket in India physician Dr Anant Joshi on Saturday decided against clearing left-arm medium pacer Ashish Nehra for the one-day triseries on the forthcoming tour of South Africa.

Dr Joshi had expressed fears, after testing Nehra and other bowlers earlier this week at the MRF Pace Academy in Madras, that the Delhi seamer had not fully recovered from a groin strain.

Nehra for his part maintained that he was fit and in a position to tour.

At the physical fitness tests conducted on Saturday afternoon at the Wankhede stadium, however, it was decided to not clear Nehra for the tour, with the consensus being that he needs more time to recover.

The national selectors and team management will take a decision on Nehra's replacement on Sunday. The selectors are believed to have shortlisted Debashish Mohanty, Rakesh Patel and Ajit Agarkar, from which one will be picked.

Later speaking to reporters, Leipus said Nehra's injury is because of the "imbalance in his bowling action". "It is because of the way his back foot lands at the time of delivery," he said.

"When Nehra was sent back from Sri Lanka, he was given an eight-week recovery programme; he's only finished six weeks of it and needs another two weeks. If we stop it then there is danger that the injury could reopen," he added.

Admitting he's being tough on the bowler, Leipus said: "We're resting him for the one-dayers; he'll be ready for the Tests. He's playing free now but there is still some stiffness, which means that the injury has not fully healed."

Baroda seamer Zaheer Khan, who had been ruled out of the ODIs earlier this week for not having recovered from a shin injury, also took the fitness test but failed to clear it.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who had injured his toe during the Zimbabwe tour, leg spinner Anil Kumble, who is back after a long lay-off following shoulder surgery, and medium pacer Javagal Srinath were all found fit.

On Tendulkar's fitness, Leipus said he has recovered very well.

"The injury has been a very tough thing for him; it is of such a nature that he'll have to manage with it for the rest of his career. He's been training a lot in the gym and has lost a lot of body fat. Though it seems he is a little sluggish, it is because he's not indulged in a lot of running activity," he said.

Leipus also gave a clean chit to skipper Sourav Ganguly, saying he looked a bit sluggish at the fitness test on Saturday as he had not done hard running during the past few weeks because of a pelvic injury, from which he has now recovered.

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