"Better than we hoped" - Travis Head provides possible timeline of joining Australia's 2023 World Cup squad
Australia's limited-overs opening batter Travis Head has stated that his recovery is going faster than he had hoped and has hinted at joining the 2023 World Cup squad in the coming week. The left-handed batter also hinted at playing the game against the Netherlands at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 25.
Head suffered a wrist injury during the fourth ODI against South Africa last month, impacting his chances of playing in the 2023 World Cup. Despite the injury, the selectors have stuck with the southpaw, hoping for his availability in the latter stages of the tournament.
On Sunday, October 15, the South Australian told cricket.com.au that he believes he is on track to play against the Netherlands in Delhi, though he admitted that it's an aggressive timeline. However, he remains on course to join the team later this week.
"It's coming along well, and probably better than we hoped. When we decided not to go with surgery, which would have meant a 10-week recovery, we were told it would be minimum six weeks with the splint before we could look at playing again. Going by that plan, the Netherlands game will be just under six weeks from impact which is a pretty aggressive date so everything would have to go perfectly from here to make that deadline," he said.
"But we'll just see how it progresses over the next few days and I'm excited by the prospect of joining the boys over there later in the week," he added.
Due to Head's absence, Australia's top-order has struggled as David Warner and Mitchell Marsh haven't produced the desired starts. The five-time champions have lost both games and are staring down the barrel.
"There's still a few hurdles we need to clear" - Travis Head
Travis Head predicts his fielding situation to be the same as for Pat Cummins during his wrist fracture. However, a final decision on the same is yet to come.
"I'm not sure what it will mean for fielding, we haven't explored that yet. I had it scanned the other day and it's healing, and I guess it will be a bit like Pat Cummins' wrist that gets strapped up as protection after he got that fracture," the 29-year-old said.
"So there's still a few hurdles we need to clear, and everything needs to fall into place from my end and from the team's point of view over there before the final decision is made. But hopefully that's all good, and I'm on the plane on Thursday," he added.
Australia face Sri Lanka in a near must-win game on Monday in Lucknow.