A knee injury has ruled Aaron Finch out of the remainder of Australia’s white ball tour to the Caribbean and Bangladesh.
The Australian captain initially injured his right knee during a practice session before the first T20 International against West Indies in Saint Lucia and he further aggravated it during the third match of the series.
He sat out the final two T20 matches, handing over the captaincy reigns to Alex Carey, who will continue as captain for the deciding One-Day International against West Indies on Tuesday [Australian time].
Finch will fly back to Australia, where he will spend 14 days in mandatory hotel quarantine.
He will likely undergo surgery but is optimistic he will be fully fit for the ICC T20 World Cup, which begins on October 17th in the UAE and Oman.
“I’m extremely disappointed to be heading home,” Finch said. “This was considered the best course of action rather than travelling to Bangladesh, not being able to play and losing that recovery time. I will have the surgery if required and start the recovery process ahead of the World Cup.”
Finch’s injury further depletes a squad that is already missing several of its best players, who opted out of the tour because of bubble fatigue.
Australian selectors have yet to confirm who will captain Australia for the five T20s in Dhaka.
While Carey took over for the ODI series, he played just three out of the five T20s in Saint Lucia and is not certain to start in the shortest format.
Matthew Wade was Australia’s Vice-Captain for the T20 matches against West Indies and is a strong possibility to lead the side in Dhaka.
The five matches against Bangladesh are Australia’s only scheduled T20 fixtures between now and the T20 World Cup.
