Delhi: All-rounder Cameron Green took a big step forward in his bid to return in the second Test, leaving selectors with the option of picking three front-line spinners, but he would be playing under duress.
As Mitchell Starc declared he was not where he would like to be in his recovery, the concerns with Green became apparent during a lengthy hit in the nets on Wednesday afternoon.
Pat Cummins talks with teammates during an Australian Test squad training session at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.Credit:Getty Images
After bowling at full pace for about 45 minutes on the square in a session with Pat Cummins, Starc and Scott Boland, Green batted for over an hour in the nets, but concerns arose towards the end of his hit.
Green, who faced the spinners and took throw-downs delivered with a whanger, was seen in a conversation with assistant Michael Di Venuto apparently expressing discomfort after middling a shot. He faced another ball before leaving the nets.
Green underwent more scans earlier this week to check his finger had healed, so he would not be batting if there was a chance of further damage. But reverberations caused after the ball hits areas of the bat have a jarring effect.
Cameron Green bowls on Wednesday.Credit:Getty Images
It has been just over seven weeks since Green fractured his middle finger facing the express pace of South Africa speedster Anrich Nortje during the Boxing Day Test.
Australia would be getting a diluted version of Green if he plays, as he would unlikely be able to field at gully and consideration will be given to his bowling workload after so much time out and his history of back fractures.
What selectors do with Green will provide a gauge to the mindset within the Australian brains trust, who know defeat in Delhi will end their bid to end the country’s 19-year Test drought in India.
But Green opens up the possibility of Australia blooding Matthew Kuhnemann as the third frontline slow bowler in the attack. Australia last fielded three frontline tweakers in the series against Bangladesh in 2017.
Kuhnemann provides selectors with a left-arm option who can slide the ball into the pads of the right-hander in the manner of Ravindra Jadeja, though it is asking plenty for the Queenslander, with 35 wickets at 35 from just 13 first-class games, to match the India spin master.
It is far from ideal that both Green and Starc, missing from last week’s heavy loss in Nagpur, are both well short of 100 per cent before such an important game.
If both cannot play, Boland, who bowled well without a wicket, would likely keep his place as the second seamer behind Cummins.
Starc trained for the first time with the squad on Wednesday, having practised earlier in the week with Kuhnemann before the squad arrived.
Mitchell Starc in action during the training session.Credit:Getty Images
He is yet to regain full strength in the middle figure of his bowling hand after having it removed from a splint only days ago after being restricted for six weeks to repair a damaged tendon.
“It’s progressing – not as fast as I would have liked, but it’s as planned in terms of the medical stuff. There’s a few boxes to tick, but it’s on track,” Starc said. “I’d like to be a little further down the road, yeah.″
Starc will field with a protective cap but ICC regulations forbid him from wearing it while bowling. His hopes of playing hinge on how he pulls up from the training session.
“Still a good chance [of playing], it’ll come down to how it reacts by the end of the day, how the medical staff see it, how the selectors and Pat and Ronnie [Andrew McDonald] feel about it as well,” Starc said.
“I’ll do everything I can to be fully available for selection. Then it’s a discussion for the rest of the group involved.″
Starc, who adds starch to the lower order, said batting would be “uncomfortable”.
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