Leipus to quit after Bangladesh tour

Andrew Leipus, the Indian physio, plans to quit after the tour of Bangladesh in December. Leipus had earlier asked the Indian board to relieve him of his duties with the team as he wanted to spend more time with his family as well as pursue a professional course in sports physiotherapy.

Speaking to The Times of India, Leipus confirmed that he planned to quit after the team completed the Bangladesh tour. "It won't be after the South Africa series," he said. "After that the team goes to Bangladesh and there's not too much gap between the two series. After the Bangladesh tour there is a decent break in play before Pakistan tours India. The time is enough for the BCCI to finalise on another candidate."

Leipus, 34, spoke about how he couldn't stay on for India's series against Pakistan. "That's not possible at all. My Masters course in Sports Physiotherapy at the University of Adelaide beings in February and the Pakistan tour is scheduled in February and March 2005."

He was also surprised at reports that spoke about a communication gap between him and the board. "That was disappointing. There were strange reports in different sections of the media about the BCCI not knowing about my decision to resign. My stand was clear ever since I communicated to the board about not being able to be with the team on a full-time basis."

In his letter to the Indian Board Leipus had suggested that John Gloster, the former Bangladesh physio, be considered as a physio. Gloster, who has also worked with Surrey in the past, spent about two years as the physio of the Bangladesh team, but left them on October 9 when his contract ran out.