Glenn Maxwell ruled out of South Africa tour due to elbow surgery; could also miss initial days of IPL 2020

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of the upcoming South Africa tour owing to shoulder surgery. The southpaw requires surgery to his left elbow and will hence be replaced by D'Arcy Short in both the limited-overs squads. As per Cricket Australia, he needs six to eight weeks to forge a comeback and could very well miss the beginning of this year's edition of the IPL as well.

Maxwell had communicated to the Australian team medical staff that the pain in his elbow "had increased over the weekend", following which he was reviewed by Cricket Victoria's Dr. Trefor James, Australian team doctor Richard Saw, and a specialist surgeon in Melbourne. Scans went on to reveal that there were some loose bone fragments within his elbow joint, forcing them to come to a decision that the 31-year-old will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Thursday.

"We are disappointed to lose Glenn this close to the tour as we were looking forward to welcoming him back to the national side in both the 20- and 50-over formats after his break during the summer," national selector Trevor Hohns said. "Unfortunately, the pain he has experienced in the elbow in the latter stages of the BBL increased over the weekend and he will have surgery immediately to rectify the situation. "

An opportunity has now presented itself for D'Arcy and we're confident he'll make the most of whatever opportunities come his way in South Africa. Like Glenn, D'Arcy is an inventive, hard-hitting batsman who offers a handy spin-bowling option. We have no doubt he will make a positive contribution to the squad."

Maxwell said that he himself was not too confident of taking on the load of international cricket with the pain in his elbow and hence decided to undergo the surgery.

"Representing Australia is the highest honor in cricket and something I cherish," Maxwell said. "I was not confident that I could perform at international level with my elbow in its current state and have decided to undergo surgery straight away to fix the issue."

Australia will clash with South Africa in three T20Is and three ODIs in the tour scheduled from February 21 to March 7.