New Delhi (Reuters)
Opening batsman Sadagoppan Ramesh has ruled himself out of India's three-Test series in South Africa next month because of a back injury.

"I am unlikely to go. It is a lower back injury and I don't think I will recover fully," Ramesh told Reuters.

Ramesh's absence means India will go into the tough series against the world's second-best side with only one established opener in Shiv Sundar Das.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will also assess the fitness of medium-pace bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, plus batsman VVS Laxman -- all back from injury lay-offs -- before the Test side is picked on Tuesday. Khan, who is recovering from a foot injury, and Nehra, who was nursing a groin strain, were both sidelined for India's ongoing one-day triangular series in South Africa.

The BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told Reuters that the two bowlers and Laxman will have to pass fitness tests on Monday to be considered for selection.

Recent injuries to key players have undermined the Indian side and the board conducted fitness tests on the entire one-day squad before the trip to South Africa. Laxman is aiming to make his comeback after missing the recent Test series in Sri Lanka after suffering a ligament tear in his right knee.

He underwent arthroscopy in August and made his comeback earlier this week, hitting a match-winning century in a premier domestic match in his first game after returning to action.

Ramesh, 26, suffered muscle spasms in his lower back while stretching for a catch in the first game of a two-Test series in Zimbabwe in June and subsequently missed the second Test.

Ramesh returned to play in all three games of the Test series in Sri Lanka -- India lost 2-1 -- which ended in the first week of September. He has been criticised for poor footwork after being dismissed frequently to catches in the slip cordon, but he showed better technique in Sri Lanka to score 223 runs in six innings at an average of 37.17.

Ramesh, who has played 19 Tests since making his debut two years ago, has had fitness problems in the past and also missed a two-Test home series against South Africa last year.

"There was severe muscle spasm in the last joint in the back and the disc was hurting. It healed, but got aggravated in the last Test [in Sri Lanka] because the area had not regained enough strength," he said.

The player said doctors had advised him at least three more weeks of rehabilitation. "There is no pain, but there is a chance of my breaking it if I put too much pressure straightaway which can affect my career."

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