Both Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green had suffered injuries during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Melbourne, and are yet to fully recover ahead of the second Test against India in Delhi, which starts Friday.
Mitchell Starc trains at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi ahead of the second Test between India and Australia. AFP
Injury woes continue to plague the Australian team that’s 0-1 down in the four-Test series against India, with Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green doubtful for the second Test in Delhi starting Friday.
Both Starc and Green, along with another member of the seam department Josh Hazlewood, had missed the first Test in Nagpur, in which they ended up getting crushed by an innings and 132 runs inside three days.
Starc, whose last appearance for Australia was in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in which Green ended up suffering a finger injury, admitted his recovery from an injury on his bowling hand wasn’t going as quickly as he would’ve liked, putting his hopes of making an appearance at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium in doubt.
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“It’s progressing – not as fast as I would have liked, but it’s as planned in terms of the medical stuff. There’s a few boxes to tick, but it’s on track,” Starc was quoted as telling Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.
The veteran left-arm pacer however, did not rule himself out of the Delhi Test entirely, adding it would come down to how he feels closer to the start of the match.
Green, meanwhile, showed signs of discomfort during a nets session. The SMH report noted that the Western Australian batted for more than an hour after bowling for about 45 minutes, but problems arose towards the end of his batting practice.
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The visitors, who haven’t beaten Indian in a Test series either home or away since 2014-15, have added left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann to the squad following the crushing defeat in Jamtha.
If Starc, Green and Hazlewood continue to sit out in the second game, the Pat Cummins-led side might consider the possibility of handing a Test debut to Kuhnemann and fielding three front-line spinners.
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