IND vs AUS: Australia All-Rounder Likely To Miss India Series, But Aims To Be Fit For ICC World Cup 2023

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Glenn Maxwell is likely to miss Australia's three-match ODI series in India later this month as he continues to recover from an ankle soreness, but the key all-rounder is hopeful of being completely fit for the ICC World Cup 2023, scheduled to be held in October-November.

Maxwell, who is still battling ankle soreness from the leg injury he suffered at a friend's birthday party last year, was initailly named in the white-ball squads for the tour to South Africa, but was ruled out due to aggravation to the earlier injury.

The 34-year-old Victorian, sidelined for several months last summer after fracturing his fibula, was already expected to miss the ODI series against South Africa for paternity leave. Now, he may miss further action in lead up to the World Cup.

While not entirely ruling out his appearance in India, Maxwell is still harbouring aspirations of making a fleeting appearance in the series later this month and maintains being fit for the World Cup is his primary focus.

"I still want to play some part of that India series. But I'm not feeling any pressure on it. 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," Maxwell was quoted as saying by ICC.

"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."

Maxwell, who has played in two editions of the 50-over World Cup so far, is a vital cog in Australia's plans for the upcoming edition in India and has been named in the 18-member provisional squad.

The 34-year-old has not played for his country since he featured in an ODI against India in Wankhede earlier this year 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.

Maxwell also revealed how he may have aggravated his injury when he landed in South Africa. "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," Maxwell said.

"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."

The veteran all-rounder, who is slowly managing to get fit for the World Cup, has also revealed that he is back training in the gym already and may start full training later this week.

"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. 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."

Australia will begin their preparations for the ICC ODI World Cup with a five-match series in South Africa before they head to India for a three-match series followed by warm-up matches for the show-piece tournament, where they will begin their campaign against hosts India on October 8 in Chennai.