Australian captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Glenn Maxwell is fit and will play in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semifinal clash against South Africa on November 16 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Notably, Maxwell battled cramps and severe back pain to score his uncredible unbeaten double century during Australia’s three-wicket win over Afghanistan at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
However, all scans of Maxwell came out okay, so there is no worry about his fitness, said Cummins.
Pat Cummins said at the pre-match press conference: “Glenn Maxwell is all clear. He is all good. He was a little bit sore on Tuesday. Yeah, we get scans a lot of the time just to make sure that if there is something, we know what we're dealing with and fortunately it came back all okay. So, he's fine.”
The skipper further said Australia will announce their playing XI during the toss on Thursday. It will be interesting to see whether Cummins goes with Marnus Labuschagne or Marcus Stoinis against South Africa.
He said, “We will announce our XI at the toss tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, there was a lot of negative talk about the pitches for the World Cup 2023, especially for the India versus New Zealand semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium. A British newspaper had reported that the BCCI had employed a used pitch instead of a fresh one for the match without permission from ICC.
However, Cummins said that they have not faced any issues with the pitches so far.
Cummins said, “Obviously the ICC has an independent pitch curator who manages that. I'm sure they are all over making sure it's fair to both teams. So far in this tournament that we've played on, I haven't seen any issues.”
The Australia skipper said that the 2015 World Cup win was his career’s highlight, but he wasn’t part of the playing XI that defeated New Zealand by seven wickets in the final at the MCG. However, he hopes to play in the final of the 2023 World Cup to make memories for life.
Cummins signed off by saying, “I'd still say that 2015 World Cup was my career highlight, and I wasn't playing. But it was just the most magic moment. MCG, packed house, the whole of Australia behind us, winning a World Cup, which is rare. You only get a chance every four years, so if I'm in the playing XI (on Thursday) and we win, that might be that 2015 World Cup.”
(With PTI/ANI Inputs)
