Australia’s David Warner has been ruled out of the tri-series in West Indies with a broken left index finger he suffered during fielding in the win over South Africa in St Kitts on Saturday.
Australia’s team doctor Geoffrey Verral said that the opener’s recovery period depends on whether he requires surgery or not. If he does need surgery, he will now face a race against time to be fit for the tour of Sri Lanka in July.
"The X-Ray showed an intra-articular fracture of the distal phalanx of the index finger of the left hand - the top part of that finger," Verrall said. "We will assess the situation over the coming days to see if the injury requires a surgical option but should that not be the case then David is likely to be available to return to play in somewhere between two and six weeks.”
Interim coach Justin Langer is yet to decide whether a replacement is to be flown in but Warner was looking at the bright side, despite injury cutting short his impressive start to the tri-series, where he already has an unbeaten half-century and a century in three innings.
"It's obviously disappointing to be sidelined given the form I've been in and given the important stage the tri-series is at, but it's always important to look at the positives," Warner said. "This downtime, however long or short it is, will give me the chance to freshen up and spend quality time with my family after an intense period of action.”
Langer said Warner’s loss was a double blow. "It's doubly disappointing to have David Warner sidelined because of his outstanding form plus his attitude and professionalism around the group which has been a joy to work with," he said. "But we've spoken from day one of this tour about every single person in the squad contributing to our success.
"I've encouraged the players not in the starting eleven to be ready at all times because you never know when opportunities might come. One of the boys will now get that opportunity in David's absence.”
Warner’s loss is a huge one for Australia as it now means that they will be without the leading run-scorer in ODIs in 2016. Warner has 511 runs in nine innings this year with an average of 63.87. And he continued his impressive form from the IPL, where he finished as the second highest run-getter behind Virat Kohli, with 848 runs and led Sunrisers Hyderabad to their maiden IPL title.
It also means that Usman Khawaja is likely to open the innings along with Aaron Finch in their next game against West Indies and out-of-form all-rounder Glenn Maxwell might be recalled to the starting XI.
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