Sachin Tendulkar, who has already missed India's current tour of the West Indies, will have to wait for another six weeks for return to competitive cricket during which he will continue with "a structured rehabilitation programme" of his right shoulder, according to doctors who examined him in London on Wednesday.
The batting maestro, who flew in here this morning from Mumbai for an examination by a team of doctors that had done a surgery on his shoulder two months ago, was reviewed at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth.
The doctors reached the conclusion that Tendulkar's shoulder is not ready for competition at the international level, although his recovery is proceeding "well and as expected", a hospital statement said later.
Tendulkar's shoulder is now stable and it is regaining "a full range of motions although strength remains slightly weak", the statement said, adding, "his biceps repair is intact but he has some slight discomfort on stressing the tendon and it is also a little weak."
The statement went on to say, "The biceps is a major tendon normally subjected to very high forces and generally takes 10 to 12 weeks to heal completely to the point where it can handle the demands required."
In the case of Tendulkar, "the priority now is to regain strength over the next four to six weeks so that his shoulder is ready for his return to competition," the doctors said.
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"At this stage, the surgical recommendation is that the shoulder is not ready for competition at the international level," according to the hospital spokesperson Louisa Stanton.
The surgery on Tendulkar's shoulder was performed by a team of specialists including surgeons Andrew Wallace and Miss Susan Alexander and anesthetist Dr William Harrop-Griffiths.
Tendulkar arrived here earlier in the day from Mumbai by a British Airways flight. He is accompanied by his wife Anjali, daughter Sara and son Arjun.
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