Australia have been dealt with a concern regarding their prime top-order batsman Steve Smith, ahead of the first day-night Test in Adelaide, for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting Thursday. He has reportedly tweaked his back and has missed the latest training session for the side.
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According to a report by ESPNCricinfo, Smith did not participate in the full-day training on Tuesday morning. While he did come to the session in the afternoon, he participated for 10 minutes, in warm-ups and fielding, as he indicated towards the support staff and walked off the field.
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Meanwhile, the Australian camp did not mention anything further on the issue. Furthermore, the focus was on Joe Burns, who practice hard under the watchful eyes of head coach, Justin Langer.
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Later, an Australian spokesperson said that Smith had suffered a sore back and was getting attended by the physio. However, the spokesperson confirmed that there was no reason to panic, as Smith's back was just getting a rub-on by the physio, while he would be training on the eve of Thursday's match.
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Meanwhile, provided Smith is indeed injured, he would become the 13th Australian to be on the list during the ongoing tour by India. As of now, for the others who are surely injured, include David Warner (groin), Will Pucovski (concussion), Mitchell Starc (personal leave), Cameron Green (concussion) and Moises Henriques (hamstring).
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Australia are coming off mixed luck in the just-concluded limited-overs campaign against the side, having won the ODIs (2-1) and lost the T20Is (1-2). They would also eye to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, having lost it the last time at home, in 2018-19.
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