The Australian Team has been dealt another major blow as their star all-rounder Cameron Green has been ruled out of the first Test against India to be played in Nagpur on 9 February onwards.
Australia will miss the services of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood due to injuries. Cameron Green would be another huge miss as he has done well in bowling and useful batter that can play the spinners decently. The star all-rounder suffered a fracture while batting during the 1st innings of the 2nd Test match at Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG against South Africa in December 2022. Green did not feature in the 3rd Test match in Sydney.
Green is still recovering from the finger injury as he jarred his finger during the practice in Bengaluru. Australian coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Green would be unlikely to bowl right now. “He hasn’t faced even the fast bowlers so he’s very unlikely to play the 1st Test. Without Cameron Green bowling, it will be difficult to play three spinners for us, but selectors will decide the best possible XI,” said Steve Smith at the press conference.
The pitch in Nagpur is likely to favour the spinners and it will be interesting to see if Australia picks up 3 spinners including Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar, and Todd Murphy. Nathan Lyon would be a guaranteed pick.
Australia would be looking to win their first Test series win on Indian soil after a gap of 19 years. With Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood not available due to injuries, the onus will be on the bowlers to pick 20 wickets for the Indian team.
Scott Boland has played all six Test matches on Indian soil and would be challenged to bowl against top-quality Indian batting replacing Josh Hazlewood. Australia will be looking for their star players including David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cummins step up to the occasion providing some good cricket. The option for Australia to replace Green would be either Peter Handscomb or Matt Renshaw.
Cameron Green’s performances in Test matches
Cameron Green has been in decent form of late in Test matches. He is a decent pace bowling all-rounder picking up 23 wickets from 18 matches ( 28 innings) with career-best figures of 5 for 27 in the first innings of the 2nd Test match against South Africa.
He has a decent batting technique with 806 runs from 18 matches ( 26 innings) with a career-best score of 84. His absence is a big blow for the Australian team with them missing the star bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the first Test match.
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