The versatile Australian youngster hopes to fully heal his fractured finger and be available for selection. Green was hit by a delivery from Anrich Nortje in Perth’s Test against South Africa late last year. The 23-year-old has been sidelined since then but was named in Australia’s squad for the India tour.
“We have a lot of work to do before the first test game, but we haven’t put a clear line on him (Green) yet or… put him on the roster,” McDonald said.
Australia are currently training in a four-day warm-up camp in Bengaluru.
“He (Green) has made some significant steps forward in the last two days, probably to my surprise. So there’s still an outside chance that things will go well, he could be on the team roster,” added the Australian coach.
Green is also set to play in the next Indian Premier League season, after Mumbai Indians paid the second-highest price on record for a player at the IPL auction to bring Australia into their side.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins expects hard work leading the pace attack from the tourists, but said he was excited by the impending showdown between the world’s top two Test teams.
“Coming here to India, there’s a lot of talk about big spinning wickets, maybe fast Test matches, but that’s not always the case,” he told reporters.
“You have to get into the grind sometimes,” he added.
“That role as a fast bowler can be just bowling a lot of overs for not a bunch of rewards, but doing your job for the team. I really enjoyed that aspect of the last tour. There’s always a lot of people watching, so a lot to play for.”
Australia last won a Test series in India in 2004.
