Australia batter, Steve Smith, suffered a compound dislocation of the little finger during the World Test Championship final against South Africa while fielding in the slips.
As he stood up close with his helmet on in the slip cordon, a catch off Temba Bavuma's edge flew towards him, resulting in a drop -- ruling him out of the remainder of the final and subsequent Test against West Indies in Barbados.
In Smith's absence, Josh Inglis batted at 4 for Australia, scoring 5 and 15 on a tough batting track. The Aussies, however, recovered and fared well with half-centuries from Travis Head, Beau Webster, and Alex Carey as they won the match by 159 runs.
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Captain Pat Cummins has now provided an update on Smith's injury and whether the ace batter will feature in the second Test against West Indies.
Will Steve Smith play 2nd WI v AUS Test?
In the aftermath of their win over the West Indies to start the new World Test Championship cycle, the Australian captain revealed that Smith resumed his training in New York with a few hits.
However, whether the 36-year-old plays the second Test will be determined in the coming days after assessing his ability to work in the nets.
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"He's had a few hits over in New York, which I think was with a tennis ball and an incredi-ball. I think his wound is looking good, so the next stage is to come over here and hit some balls in the nets. So we'll know more over the next few days," said skipper Cummins per cricket.com.au.
Notably, Australia has also dropped Marnus Labuschagne from the playing XI as of now, depleting the experience in the top four. Usman Khawaja remains the most senior batter, making Smith's availability crucial.
The next Test will be played at the National Cricket Stadium in St. George's, Grenada from July 3.