Steve Smith provides major health update ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series vs India

Former Australia captain Steve Smith has provided an update regarding his injury ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Test series) in India. Smith, who scored his second consecutive BBL century on Saturday, suffered a back spasm while training. He is likely to miss the next game for Sydney Sixers against Hobart Hurricanes. Given that he is a significant part of the Australian Test side, there were concerns regarding his availability for the India tour. 

However, Smith has cleared the air on his back spasm, saying that he is pretty certain he will be all right for the Border-Gavaskar series against India. Australia are all set to travel to India for a four-match Test series starting February 9. Smith is expected to play a crucial role in the contest given his impressive record with the bat in subcontinent conditions. 

"I'm pretty certain we'll be all right. I just had some spasming this afternoon. I struggle to get upright. I can bend (forwards) all right but getting into an extension is not ideal. It probably helped me in my batting, kept me a bit lower. It's a bit stiff but hopefully I pull up okay," Smith was quoted as saying by Zero Wicket.

Australia will be hoping to win the series this time around as they have not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India since 2004. Prior to 2004, Australia's last Test series triumph in India was in 1969. Since 2004, Australia and India have played 4 Test series in the subcontinent, all of which have ended in defeat for the Kangaroos. Apart from that, India have even managed to win the last two red-ball series on Australian soil, rubbing more salt in their wounds. 

India vs Australia, BGT Test series squads

Australia's squad: Pat Cummins (Captain), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. 

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Note: Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness.

Image: AP