South African captain Graeme Smith suffered a finger injury while fielding during practice on Friday but the team management ruled out any major problem and said a final call on his fitness would be taken tomorrow morning.
Smith sustained the injury on his left little finger while fielding at slips during their morning practice at Eden Gardens and he was rushed to the medical unit of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
Ruling out a fracture, South Africa's media liaison officer Michael Owen-Smith said the MRI scan later in the day revealed a sprained ligament with some swelling around the little finger.
"As far as Smith's injury is concerned, he had an X-ray on the little finger of his left hand. It says no fracture at all. Later the MRI scan revealed there was some ligament damage," he told PTI.
Owen-Smith was hopeful that Smith would play in the second Test but said a final decision would be taken during the practice session tomorrow morning.
"He will be there during the practice tomorrow and we will take a call then. But it's not a fracture and hopefully, he will play," he said.
This is for the third time in last two years Smith is rocked by an injury. During IPL in April 2008, he had suffered a tennis elbow that had also forced him to sit out of three ODIs against England in the same year.
Later, Smith broke his hand in a Test against Australia in Sydney. He missed the subsequent ODI series and decided to delay the surgery on his injured tennis elbow until after the return series against the Australians at home last year.
Earlier, South African players had a three-hour long practice session. The visitors started the net session without fast bowlers Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell and the trio joined their team-mates later.
Having thrashed India by an innings and six runs, South Africa are 1-0 up in the two-Test series and they just need a draw in the Eden Test to reclaim the number one spot in ICC Test rankings. PTI
