"I am preparing to the best of my ability and feeling better now," said Tendulkar, 33.

"I have to undergo a fitness test in Mumbai on May 23. After that I will be able to tell whether I am fit for the West Indies. It is not the right thing to give my judgement before that," he said.

The Indian team for next month's four-Test series in the Caribbean will be named a day after Tendulkar's fitness test.

"At this moment the goal is to get fit as early as possible. That is what I was targeting for so many days. That remains my goal," Tendulkar said after a five-day fitness programme in the southern city.

"Whether I am going (to the West Indies) or not, I will still meet him and figure out how I am progressing," said one of the most prolific batsmen in contemporary cricket with a world record 35 Test and 39 one-day centuries.

But a career spanning 16 years has begun to take its toll with a spate of injuries in recent times, the most notable being a tennis elbow problem two years ago that also required surgery.