NEW DELHI, Aug 24: India’s cricket selectors want Sachin Tendulkar so badly that they will go to any length to have the master batsman back at the crease. The five selectors, headed by former Test wicket-keeper Kiran More, provisionally included Tendulkar in the squad for next month’s two Test matches in Zimbabwe even before the batsman had begun training after an elbow surgery.

Tendulkar, who has not even started batting at the nets, refused to predict if he will be ready for the first Test against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo from Sept 13.

“I have to take it step by step, I just can’t just go and start playing,” Tendulkar, 32, said after a brief hit-out with a light synthetic ball in his home city of Mumbai.

“I would like to go (to Zimbabwe) but the final decision on whether I will play or not is the doctor’s.”

The selectors are not to blame. With India floundering on the field, not having the most prolific batsmen in contemporary cricket in the team is painful.

“You can’t substitute a Sachin,” said More. “I don’t care if he has not played cricket for some time.

“The moment he confirms he is fit to play, we will rush him wherever the Indian team is.”

The tennis elbow injury, sustained 12 months ago while preparing for a one-day tournament in the Netherlands, has interrupted Tendulkar’s career and severely dented India’s prospects.—AFP