Haddin in race to be fit

Melbourne - Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is in a race to be fit for the test series against India after being ruled out of Australia's one-day series against South Africa.

Haddin was replaced on Friday by Matthew Wade in the squad for the first two ODIs against the Proteas after hurting his shoulder during Australia's 2-0 Test series loss to Pakistan.

X-rays cleared the 37-year-old Haddin of a fracture but the damaged shoulder joint had sustained "significant bruising", Cricket Australia said on its website.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann said Haddin would need to play "some cricket" before the first Test starts in Brisbane on Dec. 4 to be considered.

"There's a (Sheffield) Shield game before the first Test, so if he misses all the one-dayers then he would probably have to play that I would think," Lehmann told Brisbane radio station 4BC.

Australia paceman Peter Siddle backed Haddin to be fit.

"I'm 99.9 per cent sure he won't miss," he told reporters in Melbourne. "We won't have to worry about who's going to keep. You'll just be looking at him."

After the Brisbane test, Australia play India in Adelaide (December 12-16), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7).