Elbow surgery could disrupt Steve Smith’s World Cup plans

Tainted Australian cricketer Steve Smith must be waiting anxiously for his one-year ban to end, which was handed to him by Cricket Australia (CA) after the ball-tampering scandal at the Newlands in Cape Town last year in March. The incident turned out to be one of the darkest phases of cricket in the country and ever since the national team has strained to find its feet in every format.

His ban ends on the third week of March, which also means that he would be eligible to play the 2019 World Cup, which is scheduled to start on May 30, in England and Wales. However, in a recent development, it has been learned that Steve might end up missing the tournament. The 29-year-old cricketer is now set to undergo an elbow surgery as per reports in India Today.

He is expected to wear a brace for the next six weeks. The operation would take place on Tuesday in a bid to repair a ligament in his right elbow and then he would be under extensive rehabilitation. A CA spokesperson mentioned that his return to the pitch would be made clearer once the brace gets removed. Previously, he pulled out this edition’s Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Troubles for Steve Smith

He captained Comilla Victorians in the T20 tournament and churned out scores of 16 and 0 in the two matches he played. The elbow surgery also means that he may end up missing the limited-overs series against Pakistan, which is scheduled to take place in April. Moreover, he may end up with no match practice going into the World Cup, provided he makes the cut for the 50-overs event.

In the meantime, it has been learned that he has been ruled out of the next edition’s IPL, which is set to start on March 23. He was earlier retained by the Rajasthan Royals (RR), prior to the auction after he missed the tournament last year following the controversy in South Africa. For the time being, Smith’s miseries don’t seem like coming to an end by any stretch of the imagination.

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