Australian team have another setback to their preparation for the One Day series against India as Aaron Finch is set to miss the tour practice match against the President XI on Tuesday. Finch has been struggling with a calf injury since his stint at Surrey in England six weeks ago. Aaron Finch has been the mainstay for the Australian top order for a long time now. However, he is missing the match as a precautionary measure.
The Australian management does not want to take any risk by playing Finch in the practice match; he will play in the opener on Sunday. The Australian team is already missing the services of their prime fast bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood on this tour of India. Both the bowlers are struggling with injuries. Hazlewood suffered a back injury while bowling in the first Test, Starc, however, wasn’t included in the side for the tour of the sub-continent.
The Australian reached Chennai on Sunday and their middle order batsman Hilton Cartwright missed Monday’s practice session due to illness. His participation in the practice match will be decided on Tuesday morning. On the other hand, Finch has been spending some time with physiotherapist Alex Kountouris for the past two days to get fit for the Opener on Sunday.
Gurkeerat Singh Mann will lead President XI, and the team includes many players who have played with the Australian in the IPL. Gurkeerat and Sandeep Sharma were team mates with Marcus Stoinis Glenn Maxwell in the Kings XI setup. Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Aggarwal, and Washington Sundar played under Steve Smith in Rising Pune SuperGiants.
The Australian team has to adjust to the condition in the south as they have just arrived from Bangladesh and the conditions will not be the same.
Australian all rounder said:
“It’s tough conditions here … I’ve just come from training and I’m still sweating, we’re eagar to get out there (on Tuesday) and it’s going to be a good series. We have to acclimatise to the conditions. I’m looking forward to getting out there in the heat, playing well, bowling some variations and getting through the game with a solid performance.”