Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has acknowledged the possibility of skipping the upcoming ODI series against India to carefully manage his preparations for this year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. Maxwell missed the recent T20I series in South Africa due to ongoing ankle soreness stemming from a leg injury he sustained at a friend's birthday party last year. Currently in Australia, he is awaiting the birth of his first child.
While Maxwell remains optimistic about making a brief appearance during Australia's ODI series in India later this month, his primary focus is on ensuring his fitness and readiness for the World Cup.
"I still want to play some part of that India series. But I'm not feeling any pressure on it," Maxwell was quoted by ICC.
"The selectors and the staff have been brilliant with me as well. They don't want to put too much pressure on me to sort of set that date because they know they've got a bit of extra time before the World Cup."
Australia are scheduled to travel to India for a three-match ODI series starting in Mohali on September 22, ahead of the World Cup.
"So instead of rushing it and probably putting myself a week or two behind, being able to give myself extra time and make sure we get through the whole tournament," he said.
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Maxwell has not played for his country since he featured in an ODI against India in Wankhede in March and hasn't taken the field at any level since making a one-off appearance in an English County Championship match for Warwickshire at the start of July.
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The 34-year-old still has screws in his ankle following the surgery. He was only in South Africa for four days before soreness around his ankle saw him return home after experiencing soreness in his left ankle while running a lap at his first training session.
"I don't think I could have predicted how sore I was going to be once I got to South Africa. But it was one of those things. Even when I went to train that day, I still felt fine. There was nothing wrong.
"Something just got impinged. I think one of the tendons around my ankle was a little bit inflamed, there's a bit of swelling, so it kept on catching which meant it just gave me a bit of pain.
"Hopefully, the cortisone takes care of that and I can get back up and running to where I was just before I went to South Africa," he said.
While Maxwell is expected to recover from the ankle concern in time for Australia's World Cup campaign, national selector Tony Dodemaide had said no risks would be taken with Maxwell given his injury history.
"We've probably just got to be a bit smarter going forward. Making sure that my preparation is a bit more managed, I think leading into a flight like that.
"I'm already back in the gym, so I'll probably get back into full training probably this week, so it won't be a long turnaround. It's just knowing that I'm not over the hurdle of the original injury yet," Maxwell said.
Inputs from IANS