There was relief for the Australian team on Friday as opener David Warner was declared fit to play their ICC World Cup 2019 opener against Afghanistan on Saturday.
The left-hander had been struggling with a sore right glute over the past few days and went through an intense fitness test on Thursday.
As it turns out, Warner has been declared fit for Australia’s tournament opener. Captain Aaron Finch stated on Friday that his explosive opening partner is indeed fit to play his first international match for Australia in over a year.
“He was a bit sore on Wednesday. He’s just a bit sore in his right glute. He is desperate to play, he’d love to play like all 15 players would,” Langer was quoted saying in a media release on the ICC website.
“What I’ve expressed to him is that it’s really important to be fair to the other players as well. We don’t want to get to Saturday morning then make a call with a couple of guys wondering if they are going to play. The earlier the better, he knows that and collectively we’re really strong on that. We’ve got to make sure we don’t aggravate it early in a long tournament. He will open the first game if he’s fit.” he added.
The 32-year-old’s form will be crucial for the defending champions. He is coming into the tournament on the back of a phenomenal Indian Premier League season, where he finished as the top-scorer.
Australia’s squad
Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.