Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023: Australia’s Green an ‘outside chance’ for India Test, says coach McDonald

Green has been sidelined since the end of last year when a sharp delivery from South Africa’s Anrich Nortje fractured his finger in Perth and forced him to miss the final Test of that tour.

Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald, during a press conference ahead of their four-match test cricket series against India, at KSCA in Bengaluru on February 04, 2023. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K / The Hindu

Australia all-rounder Cameron Green is making good progress in his recovery from a finger injury, but he still only has an outside chance of playing the first Test against India at Nagpur.

“We have a fair bit to work through before the first Test. I wouldn’t say he was in discomfort when he was bowling. (When Green was batting) One of the deliveries jarred the bottom of the bat, and that can create discomfort for anyone,” Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said in a press conference here on Saturday.

“There is awareness around the finger. He has made some significant steps forward in the last couple of days, to my surprise. There’s still an outside chance that if everything goes well, he might be on the team sheet (for Nagpur),” McDonald said.

Green, an attacking batter, is unlikely to be picked as a specialist bowler.

The Australian team is going through the paces at a training camp in Alur Cricket Ground here and will travel to Nagpur on Monday. The first Test commences on February 9.

Opener David Warner sounded alarm bells when he stated that he was exhausted ahead of the tour to India. McDonald, however, dispelled this as a “myth”, adding that Warner will be keen to correct his sub-par record in India.

“I haven’t noticed any fatigue in Warner. I would dispel that as a myth. He’s had a couple of days off from training. We’re managing each individual around their needs,” McDonald said.

“He’s looking forward to the challenge of India. It’s been well-documented that he hasn’t had the series that he would’ve liked here… I think you’ll see him fully invigorated, fully invested and fully recharged for the challenge ahead,” McDonald said.

Captain Pat Cummins did not subscribe to the commonly held view that teams must play two spinners in India. Australia, which misses the services of ace quick Mitchell Starc due to injury, could rely on its pace battery to get 20 wickets, Cummins said.

“It is not a given (playing two spinners). It is very dependent on conditions. Once we get to Nagpur, we will see. When talking about playing a couple of spinners, you forget how good our fast bowlers have been in all conditions. Even on the SCG wickets, there wasn’t much in it for the quicks, our quicks found a way. We’ve got plenty of bowling options here - finger-spin, wrist-spin, left-arm, Starc when he comes back. We’ll pick the bowlers we think can take 20 wickets,” Cummins said.