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Australia’s all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is in a “touch and go” situation for their World Cup opener against India this weekend, as he suffered a hamstring issue during a one-day international against the hosts last month, according to coach Andrew McDonald.
The 34-year-old experienced discomfort after Australia’s initial match in their 2-1 series loss, causing him to sit out two warm-up games. His fitness remains uncertain leading up to Sunday’s opener in Chennai.
“That happened after the Mohali game. He pulled up a little bit sore from that game and then further investigation obviously led to that being a slight hamstring and then he’s just rehabilitating,” McDonald told Australian media.
“It’ll be touch and go for game one. He hasn’t certainly been ruled out of that but we weren’t prepared to risk him in those practice games.
“So he’s being probably slow played a little bit with the view to these next couple of days being really important for him to press for selection for game one. We’ll see how it unfolds.”
Stoinis is among the five all-rounders in the Australian squad, all of whom are anticipated to play significant roles in their pursuit of a sixth World Cup title.
McDonald also mentioned that they are carefully managing the workload of their only specialist spinner, Adam Zampa, in preparation for the tournament.
“He did pull up sore from the second game in the ODI series but nothing significant,” McDonald said.
Opening batsman Travis Head is also recovering from a fractured hand and McDonald said he expected an official update next Wednesday or Thursday.
“That will give us a lot more information as to the final time frames and when he potentially can join the group but until we get that then he’ll remain at home training and prepping his body as much as he can,” McDonald said.
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