Aaron Finch to miss Australia’s only tour match ahead of ODIs vs India

Aaron Finch is nursing a calf injury but will be available for the ODI series against India.

Australia will be without the services of aggressive batsman Aaron Finch in their only warm-up match on Tuesday at Chennai ahead of the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series against India, starting September 17.

Australian cricketer Aaron Finch during a practice session at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. (PTI)

The right-handed Finch is nursing a calf injury but will be available for the ODI series, reported cricket.com.au.

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The decision to not play Finch against the Board President’s XI is precautionary. Finch had injured his calf plying for Surrey in England six weeks ago and has been working on it along with Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris for last two days.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Hilton Cartwright is unwell and missed training on Monday morning. A decision on his availability would be taken on Tuesday before the start of the tour match.

The report added that since the game is not an official List A contest, both, the touring Australians and the Indian Board President’s XI teams, can field more than 11 players.

“It’s tough conditions here. I’ve just come from training and I’m still sweating. We’re eager to get out there and it’s going to be a good series. We have to acclimatise to the conditions. I’m looking forward to getting out there in the heat, playing well, bowling some variations and getting through the game with a solid performance,” said all-rounder James Faulkner.

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President’s XI squad: Gurkeerat Mann (captain), Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Washington Sundar, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Shreevats Gowsami, Rahil Shah, Ashkay Karnewar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.