"We'll leave that to the selectors, but he's looking pretty good" - Alex Carey on Cameron Green's inclusion for the 2nd IND vs AUS Test
Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey shed light on all-rounder Cameron Green's recovery from injury ahead of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test. The visitors missed the all-round abilities of the youngster as they succumbed to a mammoth defeat in the series opener in Nagpur inside three days.
Cameron Green was touch-and-go for the first Test and would have featured solely as a batter had he been part of the playing XI. He sustained a fracture to his finger during the home series against South Africa, which Australia ended up winning by a 3-0 margin.
Australia's balance was hampered without a pace-bowling all-rounder in their playing XI as they played an extra batter instead.
The Aussies batters pushed themselves through one last training session in Nagpur on Monday #INDvAUS https://t.co/DfFUHBjgPp
Claiming that Green is getting along well in the nets and could be back on the field soon, Carey told Cricket.com.au:
"He's looking pretty good. I'm not 100 per cent sure (how is progressing) – he's a fantastic allrounder for the country. It will be nice to see him back soon. How much do you push it, we'll leave that to the selectors, but he's looking pretty good."
Reports claim that the all-rounder trained separately from the group in Nagpur before the group left for Delhi for the second Test. He batted and bowled with full intensity in the nets, but used softball during fielding practice, indicating that he is still not 100 percent fit.
Expressing his confidence over the team's ability to bounce back in the series, Carey said:
"It is the first Test of four and we're still very positive amongst ourselves that we'll be able to bounce back in Delhi and get this series back on level (terms) and continue to believe in what we've done over the past 12 to 18 months."
Carey continued:
"I think we're a really strong Test team. We've got all bases covered. Unfortunately it didn't go to plan this first Test, but we're definitely reinforcing the messages we've had leading into the tour."
Australia came into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy having only lost one Test in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Their struggles against spin bowling were on show as they could only manage 268 runs across two innings in the series opener.
"You can fall into over-playing conditions and certain names" - Alex Carey
Australia were heavily criticized for over-analyzing a surface that played safer than they expected. They could also not overcome the threat posed by Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in particular, who to no surprise, ended with the bulk of wickets in the first Test.
"We're still very positive amongst ourselves that we'll be able to bounce back in Delhi and get this series back on level (terms)" - the latest from the Aussie camp with @LouisDBCameron
cricket.com.au/news/australia…
Speaking about what needs to be changed ahead of the next match, Alex Carey said:
"You can fall into over-playing conditions and certain names. What you see before you go out to bat as well can change your method a bit. "For myself today (at training) I went back to batting more than anything else and reacting to what's being bowled down at me and trusting that method."
Carey continued:
"Maybe (I was) a little bit too keen to play a different style, but in my first Test over here that's not a bad learning to have.Hopefully I can find that balance – along with all our players as well. We obviously want to be proactive, but calm and patient (as well), and we had a pretty good look at that first-hand with a few of their players."
Carey lost his wicket to Ashwin across both innings while attempting to play the reverse sweep. He scored a counter-attacking 36 runs off 33 deliveries in the first innings and scored 10 runs in the second essay.
The second Test between India and Australia will begin on Friday, February 17, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Will Cameron Green feature in the second Test against Australia? Let us know what you think.
Also Read: Kyle Jamieson ruled out of Tests against England due to back stress fracture