Australian star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has openly admitted the prospect of missing out on the next ODI series against India. His decision arises from a determined effort to prudently handle his preparations leading up to this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Glenn Maxwell didn’t participate in the recent T20I series in South Africa due to persistent ankle soreness resulting from a leg injury he sustained at a friend’s birthday gathering last year. Currently, he’s in Australia, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his first child.
Maxwell still holds hope of making a brief appearance in Australia’s ODI series in India scheduled for later this month. Nevertheless, he emphasizes that his top priority is to ensure he’s in optimal condition for the upcoming World Cup.
“I still want to play some part of that India series. But I’m not feeling any pressure on it,” Maxwell was quoted by ICC.
“The selectors and the staff have been brilliant with me as well. They don’t want to put too much pressure on me to sort of set that date because they know they’ve got a bit of extra time before the World Cup,” he further said.
Australia is set to tour India for a three-game ODI series, commencing in Mohali on September 22. This series comes as a crucial warm-up ahead of the ODI World Cup.
“So instead of rushing it and probably putting myself a week or two behind, being able to give myself extra time and make sure we get through the whole tournament,” he added.
The 34-year-old still has screws in his ankle following the procedure. After just four days in South Africa, he had to cut his stay short and come back home owing to developing soreness in his left ankle while running a lap during his first training session.
“Something just got impinged. I think one of the tendons around my ankle was a little bit inflamed, there’s a bit of swelling, so it kept on catching which meant it just gave me a bit of pain.”
“Hopefully, the cortisone takes care of that and I can get back up and running to where I was just before I went to South Africa,” he further mentioned.
Although Maxwell is anticipated to regain full fitness for Australia’s World Cup journey following his ankle issue, Australian selector Tony Dodemaide emphasized that they would exercise caution due to Maxwell’s injury-prone past.
Australia squad for the 2023 World Cup:
Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
