Cameron Green to undergo surgery, Mitchell Starc likely to miss Test against India due to injury

Australia jolted with two huge blows as their all-rounder Cameron Green and seamer Mitchell Starc are out of the ongoing Test series against South Africa due to finger injuries. WhereGreen will go under the knife following the Boxing Day Test, Starc's recovery path could taker longer than expected.The upcoming India series that is scheduled to begin early next year might seeGreen gettingback in shape for reckoningwhile given the nature of his injury, Starc could miss the first Test which begins on February 9th in Nagpur.

During the second Test at the iconic MCG, that Australia won by an innings and 182 runs and sealed the series 2-0, both players injured their fingers. While Green fractured his right index finger, Starc damaged the tendon inhis left middle finger. Wearing courage on their sleeves, bothcame on and contributed in the second innings as well with Green hitting an unbeaten 51 off 171 balls and Starc picking up a wicket.

Speaking to cricket.com.au after the match, Starc addressed the issue and said everyone is aware of the timeframe (of the India series) and that all will depend on the recovery process.

"India's the next big tour and we'll see where the timeframe is with that. It's my bowling hand so I've got to be pretty careful and make sure it heals properly," Starc told cricket.com.au. "The irony is (Green) will be back before I am. Bones are a bit quicker in the healing process, the tendon is a little bit different. I think we'll both be seeing the same specialist.

"I still think everyone's confident it will be more front-end (than back-end of the India tour that Starc will be right for). It will obviously depend on how it heals and how quickly it can do what it needs to do," Starc said.

Mitchell Starc, who injured his finger while fielding bowled more overs than anyone else during the Tests, an effort that is lauded by captain Pat Cummins as 'brave'. While the team doctors were confident that Starc will do nofurther damage to his already injured finger, the veteran seamer admitted he was in utter pain during his spells in the second innings. Elaborating on how he felt, Starc said,

"I wasn't sure what to expect," Starc said. "I need the middle finger for control more than anything.

"I've had a lot of painkillers. I could have jabbed it but I feel like I need the feeling of the ball on finger, otherwise I feel like I would have been spraying it everywhere."

Now with Australia already winning the Test series, it will be interesting to see who replaces Starc and Green in the XI for the final Test - scheduled to begin on January 4th in Sydney.