Struggling with wr pain, Steve Smith uses injection to recover in time for India series | Cricket News
Australia batter Steve Smith has conceded that he used Cortisone injection to stay on course for recovery ahead of the three-match ODI series in India starting September 22.
Having sustained an injury in his left wr during the Ashes, Smith was left out of the squad for the recently concluded series in South Africa. But with the clock ticking to the ODI World Cup in India starting October 5, the top order batter – who was using braces for a couple of weeks – resorted to a Cortisone shot last Thursday.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Smith shared, “So I’ve had a couple of sessions back batting now and it feels pretty normal. Hopefully, I don’t need another one and it just settles it down. But the part of the wr it is, they’ve said that if I do need another one, then that’ll be no stress as well. Fingers crossed that it just heals up and it’s fine, but (the wr is) feeling good at the moment.”
Scoring 373 runs in the evenly poised Ashes in England this summer, Smith only averages behind Travis Head (60.84) in the ODIs since the last 50-overs World Cup – 59.42.Most Read
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Elaborating on his recovery from injury, Smith added, “Initially in the nets, a couple of balls I faced where I got inside edges to them and your bat turns sharply, I was a bit wary of that to begin with because that’s what was actually one of the things causing my pain.
“I inside-edged a couple of balls in the nets the other day and my bat turned sharp, and I was like ‘oh, that was hurting before’ and it wasn’t hurting anymore. So that’s a real positive, and I feel as though I can play all my shots and there’s no pain at all,” he added.
Having lost the five-match series in South Africa 3-2, in their final set of games ahead of the marquee tournament this year, Australia will play three ODIs against India this month.
