Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of the remaining three matches of Australia’s tour of Pakistan and will head straight to India to continue his recovery from a minor hip-flexor strain.
Marsh sustained the injury during a fielding drill at training before the first One-Day International, which Australia won comfortably by 88 runs.
The allrounder will undergo a period of isolation before joining the Delhi Daredevils squad in India, where his rehabilitation will be managed by former Australian physiotherapist, Patrick Farhart.
No date has been given for his possible return but he is expected to be fit to play for Delhi sometime in the early stages of the IPL, which started last weekend.
The allrounder has been in Pakistan for more than a month as a reserve for the Test side but Cricket Australia felt his recovery would be more efficiently managed without the disruption of a further isolation period should he return to Australia.
“Being able to focus on my recovery without the travel and isolation break is the best approach. I am disappointed to miss the Pakistan series but look forward to re-joining the Australian squad for our next tour,” Marsh said.
Marsh’s departure leaves the Australian squad thin on troops, with Josh Inglis and Ashton Agar still in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 and Matt Renshaw in isolation after arriving in Lahore on Tuesday.
Australia will have just thirteen players available for the second ODI on Thursday at Gaddafi Stadium, which is the minimum number required to field a squad under the series playing conditions.
All players returned negative test results after the first ODI and Covid protocols have been ramped up inside the biosecure bubble at the team hotel.
“We obviously try to be a bit more careful,” said Adam Zampa, following Australia’s victory.
“Usually in the common rooms and people's rooms we've been hanging out but I think in this situation, it's kind of get back to the hotel, make sure it doesn't spread throughout the team because obviously this series is really important.
"If a couple of guys go down we're really under the pump, probably can't even field a team, but it's obviously not ideal if we all get it in a week's time too, so we've got to be really careful.”
