David Warner is in a race against time to prove his fitness for upcoming Australia vs India Test Series. The Australian picked up a groin injury in the second ODI on Sunday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground while fielding; the 34-year-old was seen walking off the field in great discomfort.
The Aussie has been ruled out for the remaining white-over matches, comprising the third ODI and the T20 Series. He now finds himself in a precarious bid to get physically fit for the test matches, set to start from December 17 in Adelaide.
A Major Setback for the Kangaroos?
Cricket Australia has not given a timeframe on Warner’s rehabilitation but if we are to go by similar incidents in the past, such kinds of injuries may take anywhere between four to six weeks to heal. Warner has a little under two weeks to get back up and running again but it may be likely that we may not see him return until the second or the third test match.
Warner’s wife, Candice, in a local radio interview, gave an update on his health. While joking that she was not responsible for her husband’s groin injury, she did move on to reveal that Warner is indeed in a lot of pain.
Needless to mention, online cricket betting odds for Australia vs India test series will take a hit, possibly in favour of the visitors.
Warner, following a lacklustre season in the Indian Premier League, started off on a solid note for the Australian Cricket Team in the ODI Series. In the two matches he played, he respectively scored 69 runs and 83 runs before being sidelined for rest of the limited-over games.
But more than that, it is his proclivity to perform with the red-ball that makes him a formidable foe in the test cricket. He has scored 60 runs cumulatively at the very least in his last five test matches, and not so surprisingly, Australia moved on to win those games.
3 of those 5 games saw Warner score a century, including his knock of 335 not out against Pakistan in 2019. Till date, he holds the record for the second-highest individual score in the Australian Test Cricket. In his last test game, he scored a century – a handsome 111 not out against New Zealand.
Warner’s test average is close to 49, making him a player to be missed.
Room for Others to Grow?
Warner’s possible absence has paved way for the likes of youngsters like Will Pucovski, who may very well get to make his international cricket debut against the Men in Blue. He has been in a fine form in the first-class cricket as the 22-year-old scored back to back double centuries in the Sheffield Shield, in October-November.
Now he eyes the test debut and may find himself playing with Joe Burns, another first-class cricketer eager to prove his mettle. Burns has been training hard in Byron Bay after a bleak spell in the Sheffield Sheild games. Burns has always partnered up with Warner but following his sidelining, he’ll have to form a chemistry with Pucovski.
Of course, this means nothing but good news for India, who can look to establish their dominance in the Test Series following a hammering in the ODI one.
