Cameron Green has recovered from a frustrating broken finger and is ready to play a major role in Australia’s push to turn around their troubled tour of India.
The 23-year-old will make his first appearance since suffering the injury while batting during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the MCG.
Green has been sorely missed batting at No.6, bowling valuable overs of pace, and for his deadly fielding in gully during the first two Tests in India.
Australia trail 0-2 heading into the third Test in Indore, starting on Wednesday, with any hope of regaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy already gone after two calamitous batting collapses in Delhi and Nagpur.
But the tourists can still guarantee their spot in the World Test Championship final, almost certainly to be against India, at Lord’s if they can avoid a 4-0 whitewash.
“It was just a few instances in the nets where I’d maybe go for a sweep and just jar the end of my bat,” Green said in Delhi on Friday.
“We just thought we’d sacrifice a game and with the year ahead we’ve got, it was probably the right call.
“It’s been really sweet the last two weeks, I’ve got a lot of confidence in it.”
Initially it was feared Green’s bowling would take longer to come back after suffering the injury, but it is only now he is feeling comfortable batting against all types of bowlers.
Green batted for more than an hour at training on Friday, declaring himself “ready” for his first Test on Indian soil.
“My bowling is actually doing really well,” Green said.
“We probably thought maybe the ball on the back of the finger, kind of rolling off might be painful, but that’s been completely fine.
“I had my first hit probably four or five days go against pace bowlers and it felt completely fine so thankfully it’s not really bouncy like in Australia where over here you can get over the ball pretty easily.”
Green will likely come in for Matt Renshaw and bat at No.6, with Travis Head to remain as opener in place of David Warner after a blazing cameo during the second innings in Delhi.
Star quick Mitchell Starc will almost certainly fill the void left by captain Pat Cummins after the 33-year-old missed the first two Tests against India due to a broken finger.
Cummins has opted to remain in Australia for the third Test after returning home to be with his seriously ill mother.
© AAP 2023
