By: Kimberly Rodrigues
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald on Tuesday (14) confirmed that David Warner, the opening batsman of the Australian cricket team, has recovered from his elbow injury and will participate in the upcoming ODI series against India.
Warner had a difficult time in the two Tests against India, managing to score only 26 runs from three innings before being replaced in the second match due to a concussion. Following this, he returned home to recover from a hairline fracture in his elbow.
“He (Warner) is coming back (to India) for the one-day series, he’s recovered from his injury,” McDonald said.
McDonald has confirmed that David Warner is still a part of Australia’s plans for the World Test Championship final against India in London in June.
Warner has an impressive record with 8158 runs from 103 Tests at an average of 45.57, as well as scoring 6007 runs from 141 ODIs at an average of 45.16.
Mc Donald also confirmed Usman Khawaja, who made 180 in Australia’s first innings in the drawn fourth Test in India, has also been cleared of structural damage to his lower leg.
“The scans are pretty positive … so he gets some time to rest up now and look forward to the World Test Championship,” McDonald said of Khawaja.
Despite the WTC final being squeezed in after the Indian Premier League, McDonald believes Australia will be well-prepared, and only injured Josh Hazlewood and all-rounder Cameron Green are signed to take part in the IPL that begins on March 31.
Warner is also expected to play white-ball cricket in India. McDonald acknowledges that the defeat in the second Test against India, where Australia suffered a batting collapse, losing eight wickets for 28 runs in barely an hour was the moment when hopes of a historic series win evaporated.
According to McDonald, the team will view it as a missed chance, and given the circumstances in Delhi, not many teams get such an opportunity. If the result had been one-all after the Delhi Test, the course of the series may have been different.
“So, there’s a lot of what-ifs around that (but) in the last two Tests we got some solid performances. We’re pretty proud of what the team’s been able to achieve, but in saying that we didn’t achieve what we wanted to, here.
“We set that as three series in the subcontinent (and) we’ve come away with three wins, three losses and three draws. That’s a pretty tough WTC cycle, so to finish on top of the table with that on the calendar is pretty impressive and we’re the world number one too.”
(With inputs from PTI)
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