Australia’s in-form allrounder Glenn Maxwell has been concussed after falling off a golf cart and will miss the World Cup clash against England.
Maxwell is under concussion protocols for up to eight days after his second freak accident in the past year.
Last November, Maxwell broke a leg when he slipped while pretending to chase a friend at a birthday party.
His latest mishap came during the cup in India when, after playing golf with teammates on Monday, he fell off a cart transporting players to the team bus.
Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald expects Maxwell to miss just one game.
“He’s doing fine, he’ll start some light exercises today and we feel as though it will be a reasonably straightforward return to play protocol,” McDonald told reporters in Bengaluru.
“I suppose the fortunate part was there was no other injury sustained which could have been a lot worse than it is.
“It rattled everyone, to be fair, once it came to the conclusion there was a concussion and he was going to miss a game.
“There was nothing untoward in the behaviour throughout the day, it was a clear-cut accident.
“Unfortunately it has compromised what we are doing as a team.”
Maxwell will continue to be assessed ahead of Australia’s match against England on Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
His injury paves the way for allrounder Marcus Stoinis to return from a calf ailment while also easing selection pressure on middle-order batsman Marnus Labuschagne.
Labuschagne had been tipped to be replaced by Stoinis, if proven fit, for the fixture against England.
Maxwell’s middle-order batting power will be sorely missed – he smacked the fastest World Cup century, from just 40 balls, against the Netherlands on October 24.
The Victorian followed that record feat with 41 from 24 deliveries in Australia’s five-run win against New Zealand last Saturday.
His absence also robs captain Pat Cummins of a bowling option with the offspinner taking four wickets so far in the tournament.
“There’s no doubt it leaves us a fraction exposed at the back end in terms of how Glenn has been performing,” McDonald said.
“But Marcus Stoinis does become available, all things going well at training today.”
Australia, with three group games remaining, are fourth in the overall standings and in the box seat to secure a semi-final spot.
After meeting arch-foe England, the Australians play Afghanistan on November 7 in Mumbai and Bangladesh on November 11 in Pune.