SL vs AUS 2025: Captain Steven Smith suffers elbow injury ahead of series

Australia are set to play their last series of the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle before playing the finale against South Africa at the Lord's, London in June 2025. The couple of Tests against Sri Lanka begin on January 29 and mainstay skipper Pat Cummins will not be taking part due to workload management concerns. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia had named star batter Steven Smith as the interim skipper in Cummins' unavailability.

However, the leader in-charge for the series in the island nation has faced a setback before the series has even begun. Smith has been hit with an elbow injury ahead of the two-match series, both of which will be played at the Galle International Stadium in Galle.

It has been reported that the star batter has faced an elbow injury scare while featuring in the ongoing season of the Big Bash League, where Smith is representing Sydney Sixers. The incident took place during the Sydney derby clash against the Thunders, and may rule the cricketer out of the series against Sri Lanka, however, the chancer are very dim.

This is not the first time Smith has faced problems with his elbow, and as a precautionary measure, he will be visiting a specialist whose consultation report will determine his fate for the red-ball series. For the unversed, Smith had faced a similar elbow injury back in 2019 and had to undergo surgery for the same.

Kuhnemann's injury creates more problems

Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who is also a part of the series against the Lankan Lions, also underwent a thumb injury during the BBL game against Hobart Hurricanes, and required surgery. However, the board has confirmed in a statement that Kuhnemann will continue to be a part of the series till his surgical wounds heal, since the injury took place on the non-bowling arm.

“He will remain in Australia while the surgical wound heals further. He is planned to resume bowling this week with a view to joining the squad in Sri Lanka if he continues to progress well,” CA had stated.