Australia’s head coach Darren Lehmann is confident that opening batsman David Warner will leave the country with the team on Friday (August 18) for the upcoming Test series in Bangladesh.
The Australia vice-captain had a mighty injury-scare after being hit on the side of his neck by a Josh Hazlewood bouncer during the intra-squad practice match in Darwin on Tuesday (August 15).
A visibly shaken Warner was floored as soon as the ball hit him before he left the ground unaided. Fortunately, the injury was not serious as he cleared a concussion test.
Cricket.com.au reported that ice was applied to the injured area as the Aussie star spent the afternoon recovering in the dressing room. Warner is fine now and Lehmann while admitting that the incident was ‘scary, hoped that the batsman would be okay.
“He seems alright, walking around the ground today, so fingers crossed he’ll be okay and we’ll get an update in the next day or two. It’s always a scare when that happens, isn’t it? Hopefully, he’s going to be OK,” Lehmann told reporters in Darwin on Wednesday (August 16).
Warner’s teammate Pat Cummins also said the batsman is doing fine and looked in good shape.
“It’s good that Davey’s fine. He’s a little bit stiff and sore, but just speaking to him then, he’s all fine. It’s only a practice match so he might or might not be out there tomorrow but he seems to be in pretty good shape,” Cummins had said after the second day of the warm-up game.
Meanwhile, Australia will look to win their first Test series in Asia since their 1-0 win in Sri Lanka in 2011. After some dismal results in the subcontinent including a 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka last year, the team from Down Under performed really well in the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year, winning the first Test before losing the series 2-1.
The two-match Test series will begin on August 27 in Dhaka before the teams move to Chittagong for the last Test.