Smith ruled out of Pakistan white ball series
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|| CF DESK ||
Australia batter Steve Smith has been ruled out of the ODI and T20I matches against Pakistan due to a left elbow injury, confirmed by the team on Saturday.
Smith suffered the injury during the Day 5 of Australia’s 1-0 win in the three-match test series against Pakistan,
“Given he had an injury with the same elbow last year, we felt it important to manage this proactively,” team physiotherapist Alex Kontouris said.
“Withdrawing him … means Steve will have the necessary time to rehabilitate his elbow to ensure his continuing availability and performance for Australia,”
However, Smith said he did not regard his injury as a major issue.
“But by staying on top of things now, we can ensure that it doesn’t become something more significant further down the line,” he added.
Smith will be replaced by Queensland leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson in the squad for the three ODIs starting Tuesday in Lahore and the one-off T20 on April 5.
Swepson, who made his Test debut in Pakistan, is uncapped in ODIs but played the last of his seven T20 internationals against Bangladesh in August.
