New Zealand speedster all set to miss ODI series against India
Jan 6, 2019 at 3:51 AM
Just before the important and tough tour of India, New Zealand have suffered a huge blow as their fast pacer Adam Milne is all set to miss the upcoming tour. The 24-year old was expected to get fit for the One-Day International series, which starts on October 16, but the pacer has taken more time than expected to recover from an elbow injury and as a result, it looks impossible for him to get into the squad.
One of the fastest bowler in the world right now, Milne injured his elbow after playing just one game for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this year’s Indian Premier League. After being ruled out of the tournament, he underwent surgery.
New Zealand selector, Gavin Larsen, was expecting the pacer to be fit in time to play a 50-over game between New Zealand XI and an Emerging Players XI at Lincoln, near Christchurch, next week. However, after assessing Milne’s conditions the former New Zealand all-rounder has said that it will be tough for the speedster to bowl anytime soon.
“Milne is just coming back from a wee tidy up elbow operation he had,” he said on Wednesday (September 7).
“He’s travelling nicely and he’s going to play in those games, but we are keen to keep expanding his batting game so he’s going to play as a batsman. It’s probably fair to say that it would be a stretch [he will make the squad for India],” Larsen added.
Well, there is also some good news for the Kiwis as their star all-rounder Corey Anderson is expected to be fit for the ODI series. He has remained on the sidelines since World T20 earlier this year due to a back injury.
“We will monitor Corey like we’ll watch everyone and assess where he is at after those games,” Larsen said.
“It is the bowling obviously we are very keen to see Corey keep progressing in, to be getting back to being selectable as a genuine all-rounder. We are trying to get that on track as quick as possible,” he concluded.