The increasingly farcical situation regarding the composition of the India squad for the tour of South Africa took another twist with the news thatAshish Nehra, who was ruled out of the trip on Wednesday, declared himself fit less than 24 hours later.

Nehra's announcement seemed to directly contradict the statement issued by the board secretary, Jayawant Lele, that the team doctor, Dr Anant Joshi, had declared him unfit.

"I've heard about the media reports but nothing official as yet. I'm fit and will be going to Mumbai for the fitness test," said Nehra, adding that Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain, had advised him to attend.

But Dr Joshi stuck to his original decision, insisting that Nehra was struggling to bowl at full pace. "He was even struggling to clear the agility and flexibility tests conducted in Chennai," he is quoted as saying in the Times of India. These views were apparently supported by Dennis Lillee, who is acting as a bowling coach prior to the tour. Lillee was said to be unimpressed with Nehra's peformance and subsequent comments that he would be bowling flat-out by the weekend.

But Nehra's coach, Tarikh Sinha, disagreed. "I never make him go all out. He was gradually getting into the groove and there's nothing wrong with that since he's coming back from injury."

Adding to the confusion is an internal dispute over the timing of the fitness tests. While the official tests are taking place at the weekend, many are deeply unhappy that semi-official assessments were made earlier. Dr Joshi defended the decision, insisting that the more time the selectors have to look at players, the better informed they will be.

The squad has already been weakened by the withdrawals of Zaheer Khan and VVS Laxman, as well as Hemang Badani, who was drafted in as Laxman's replacement.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd