After a four-month layoff, Sachin Tendulkar [Images] returned to the cricket field on Tuesday as he hit a few balls at the MIG cricket club in suburban Mumbai. The selectors have named him to the Zimbabwe-bound Test squad but his participation is subject to fitness.

"I knocked around some 30-40 balls yesterday," said Tendulkar at a promotional event in Mumbai on Wednesday. "The rehabilitation programme has been jotted down. I will gradually start practicing with a cricket ball. Right now the ball I am using is harder than the tennis ball and softer than the regular cricket ball."

The star batsman, however, said it was too early to start talking about his fitness for the Test series in Zimbabwe.

"I had only a small batting session that too with gentle throw-downs. I don't know how the elbow will respond when I face balls at almost 90 miles per hour. But I am getting ready for it."

Tendulkar said that he wants to undergo the process slowly; even it takes couple of weeks longer and not rush things.

"It is definitely a long term plan. I underwent surgery because I didn't want the problem to resurface. I just want to see to it that it heals well," he said.

The Mumbai player suffered a tennis elbow during the Videocon [Get Quote] Cup in Amsterdam last year and missed the Champions Trophy and the first three Tests against Australia at home. But the injury came back to plague him during the series against Pakistan earlier this year.

"I don't think I rushed into things but as a sportsman you always want to play. And at times you have to push yourself to help your team despite an injury. I played with an injured finger throughout the World Cup. So sometimes it clicks sometimes it doesn't.

"Also it was only a torn tendon when I made my comeback against Australia. This time I will have to be more careful. The doctors in London [Images] and our physio (John Gloster) are in touch and have worked out the plan for me," he explained.

The doctors had ruled him out for 16 weeks after they operated on him on May 25.

The Indian ODI team will leave for a triangular one-day series involving New Zealand [Images] and hosts Zimbabwe on August 22, while the Test team is expected to fly out on September 4.

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images