Le Roux snapped up as South Africa's fitness advisor

India's loss was South Africa's gain when Adrian le Roux accepted the job as fitness trainer for the South African squad last week - an irony not lost on the man himself who was surplus to national requirements just 16 months ago.

Le Roux was snapped up by the touring Indian team when they played Free State two summers ago and enjoyed himself so much he says he agonised about leaving the team in the lurch.

"It wasn't an easy decision because of how well I had got on with the Indian team," said Le Roux. "It was an amazing experience being part of the set up. I'm extremely grateful to the Indian team for allowing me to be a part of their squad because I learned so much in my time there - and also made a lot of friends."

In the end though, the lure of patriotic duty was just too strong. "This was an opportunity I could not refuse. The chance to serve your own country doesn't come along for everyone so I had to say 'yes'."

Le Roux's time with the Indians was no holiday, however, and he became widely credited with becoming the first man ever to train an Indian team to full fitness - a notion the man himself is keen to dispel.

"I believe my success with the Indian team has been greatly exaggerated. Obviously I'd like to think I made an impression and was able to help but they were in pretty good shape when I arrived. They are not amateurs!"

But clearly he did make an impression and the likes of Rahul Dravid and Javagal Srinath were not shy to say so.

"I basically tried to introduce a culture of fitness and training so that the players accepted it as a normal part of their day. I'm not sure the Indian team had a history of that before. I asked them to accept that being a professional sportsman, particularly a cricketer, meant daily training. There was some aerobic work but also a lot on flexibility and injury prevension. It's hard work staying in good shape!"

So if Sachin Tendulkar called for some advice now that Le Roux is employed by the opposition, would there be a conflict of interests? The answer is given with a laugh but the content is completely committed: "If Sachin called me for some advice I wouldn't hesitate for a second! I'm a professional and so is he and there's no problem with two professionals exchanging advice. It would be an honour."