Agencies

New Delhi, May 19: Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is working hard to regain fitness, but isn’t sure whether he can join the Indian team for the West Indies tour.

"I am preparing to the best of my ability, and both my trainer and my physio are here with me and we are working two sessions a day. We are working very hard and I am trying my level best," he said at a press conference in Chennai on Friday.

Tendulkar, who underwent a shoulder surgery in London late March, is currently practising at Chennai's MRF Academy. He has no discomfort in catches, but will undergo a fitness test in Mumbai on May 23.

“My going to West Indies is not decided yet. I still have to undergo a fitness test. After that I will be able to let you know whether it is happening or not. Giving a judgment before that is not the right thing to do," Tendulkar said.

The test will take place in the presence of Andrew Leipus, the former physio of Indian cricket team, and selection committee chairman Kiran More.

Leipus is overseeing Tendulkar's rehabilitation progress in the absence of regular physio John Gloster, who is on tour with the Indian team.

Tendulkar's fitness test is to be held a day before the national selection committee meets in Mumbai to name the squad for the four-Test series in the West Indies commencing June 2.

He is scheduled to leave for London the same night the Test team is chosen to consult Dr Andrew Wallace who performed the surgery.

When asked if would use a lighter bat owing to his shoulder injury, he said, "It has nothing to do with the weight of my bat and my trainer would have told me if the case was so."

“Dr Andrew Wallace is the one who knows exactly what has been done on my body. The trainers and the physio only make things better for me and see that I am going in the right direction, but eventually it is Andrew Wallace and figure out how it is progressing,” Tendulkar said.

West Indian pace legend Courtney Walsh has said: "Indians would miss the services of Sachin Tendulkar during their two-month-long tour of West Indies and that would give the hosts an upperhand."

''Indians are without Tendulkar. He is a master batsman, has the experience of playing on islands' wickets. He has the ability to change the game single-handedly. And we are playing at home, that is always a big advantage,'' said Walsh.