There is some good news for Sachin Tendulkar fans. Team physiotherapist Andrew Leipus asserted on Tuesday evening that the Indian batting ace is not yet ruled out of the entire series against Australia.

Seeking to clear the confusion about Tendulkar's return to action from the tennis elbow injury, that's has kept him out of the game since the Asia Cup in August, in a statement from Chennai, said both the team management and Tendulkar are taking a "conservative approach" to prevent a recurrence of the injury.

Leipus said Tendulkar's participation in the second Test looks "unlikely", but he is not ruled out of the remainder of the series.

Australia lead the four-Test series 1-0 with the second Test starting in Chennai on Thursday. The third Test starts in Nagpur on October 26 and the fourth begins in Mumbai on November 3.

"With this type of injury it is not easy to predict when he [Tendulkar] will be functional enough to return to international cricket ... Contrary to some reports he is definitely not out of the series," The statement added: "Most tendon injuries do not heal very well and often the initial attempt to return to sport is met with a recurrence.

"We have been progressing Sachin's rehabilitation carefully in order to prevent this situation."