Australia batsman Steve Smith is set to play the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) in September-October. Smith was sidelined due to an elbow injury and he was not picked in the squads for the tours of West Indies and Bangladesh.

Australia's limited-overs captain Aaron Finch is also on track to recover in time for the 2021 T20 World Cup. Both IPL and T20 World Cup will be played in the United Arab Emirates. 

As per cricket.com.au, Smith has been batting in the nets for an hour at a time at New South Wales’ training on the road to recovery.

“It seems to be going really well. I know that he’s (Smith) been building up his batting time over the last couple of weeks? I know that would have been difficult to have a time limit on his net times,” Finch told cricket.com.au on Wednesday (August 18).

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“From all reports he’s been really strict with that, making sure he doesn’t overdo his elbow so it hinders his rehab,” he added.

Finch said Smith, who plays for Delhi Capitals in IPL, has no pain while batting which is a good sign for them. “He’s going really well. The last time I spoke to him he wasn’t having any pain batting so that was a real positive. He’s going to be such an important part of our campaign,” he said.

Finch, who underwent knee surgery on August 12, is confident of his return before the mega ICC event. He had also missed the recent Bangladesh tour, where Australia lost the T20I series by 4-1.

“I’m confident of that (being fit for the World Cup),” said Finch. “It will be come down to pretty minimal match practice which I think being older and being around for quite a while plays into my hands a bit, having (previously recovered from) some injuries where you don’t have a lot of lead time into a series.

“I think that will help me. The surgery went as well as it could have and I’m walking around with no pain, which is the most important thing at this stage,” he added.

(With PTI Inputs)