The Board of Control for Cricket in India is yet to confirm the extension of tenure for the national team's physical trainer Adrian le Roux and physiotherapist Andrew Leipus.

After confirming coach John Wright's tenure for a year without any increment in salary, the BCCI has refused to increase the salaries of the other two as well.

"Even the Bangladeshi physio gets more than them," a senior BCCI official said.

According to the official, Leipus and le Roux get US $40,000 per annum. As against this, the Bangladesh board pays its physio US $50,000. What's more, le Roux could easily earn the same amount in six months if he works with any provincial team back home in South Africa.

"The BCCI can afford to run up bills of Rs 5 lakh on mobile phones and double that on travel," the official remarked. "But those things are not accounted for and therefore it is okay to have those passed."

Last March when the Board of Control for Cricket in India appointed le Roux as the team's physical trainer, former India skipper and coach Ajit Wadekar laughed at the decision and said a time would come when the team would have orthopaedic, anthropoid, paediatric and ayurvedic specialists.

A year later, the Indian team is amongst the fittest on the circuit and records lower injury rates than even Australia and South Africa. Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie returned home half-way through the World Cup while South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis struggled with an injured toe. But India remained injury-free right through the rigorous 45-day tournament.

Le Roux, 31, had in his first interview on getting the job complained about the amount of cricket the Indian team plays. The schedule remains unchanged, but it has failed to defeat le Roux's attempts to inculcate the culture of fitness in the team. Ashish Nehra, hero of the famous Durban win over England in the World Cup, said he did not feel tired even after bowling 10 overs on the trot, that too with a swollen ankle.

When the board had approved le Roux's appointment, his brief was to keep the guys fit and to balance training, practice, cricket matches and recovery.

But at the net sessions, the trainer even does things that are not part of his job description. He throws balls at the batsmen in the nets for more than two hours daily -- aggravating his shoulder, which needs an ice-pack -- and gives fielding practice to each member of the team, be it Sanjay Bangar or Sachin Tendulkar, whenever asked.

According to the players, le Roux believes he would rather do this and stay involved with the team and also ensure that they are preparing well for the games. He believes it improves their agility, speed and footwork.

Despite the strict routines he throws at the players, however, he is not a policeman. If a player skips a gym session, le Roux does not go knocking on his door. Instead he waits for the week to end, then, after assessing his logbook, hands over the court-martial session to coach John Wright.

"Adrian has been a god-send for us," Yuvraj Singh, one of the top-rated fielders in the world today, said. "Till Adrian came in, we knew fitness was important, but weren't sure how to go about it. Now there is a method to our training programmes and we are more aware of the demands of international cricket."

Before le Roux was brought in, Leipus was the team's man for all seasons. A physiotherapist by training and profession, the Australian doubled up as the team's physical trainer because the board refused to include a trainer in the back-up staff.

Leipus has a three-year sports science degree as well as a four-year physio's degree from Adelaide, South Australia.