NEW DELHI, Oct 23: India's leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar is set to return for next week's third Test against Australia in Nagpur after coming through a fitness check on Saturday.

"Sachin has done everything he was asked to do, there is no reason to hold him back now," team physio Andrew Leipus said.

"He has passed the fitness test...he's playing all his shots and he's not restricted in any way."

Tendulkar has been out of action with tennis elbow since the Asia Cup final in August.

He will play with a brace for the first few days but Leipus said it was only a precaution.

Tendulkar was included in the squad for the first two tests but returned home to Mumbai from Chennai for treatment last week.

"One of the reasons that we waited for so long is that we wanted to be very careful there is no recurrence," Leipus said.

"He's not feeling any pain at all and Sachin's happy, that's the main thing. He won't require any more treatment but he'll have to take measures so that it doesn't come back again."

The 31-year-old Tendulkar has had a spate of injuries over the last four years, including back and hamstring problems, which have been blamed on the wear and tear of non-stop cricket since making his debut as a 16-year-old in 1989.

His return will be a huge boost for India, with the strong middle-order of Rahul Dravid, captain Saurav Ganguly and Vangipurappu Laxman having failed to make an impact in the series so far.

Tendulkar has scored 9,470 runs in 114 Tests at an average of 57.39. He is only one behind fellow Indian Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries.

Australia, seeking their first Test series victory in India since 1969-70, lead the four-match contest 1-0. The third Test starts on Tuesday.

The tourists are without regular skipper Ricky Ponting with a broken thumb. He will return for the final Test in Mmmbai starting on Nov 3.-Reuters