Online
\nBRISBANE
\nSteve Smith and David Warner are set to don the Australian colours this week for the first time since their ball-tampering bans despite struggling with illness.
\nThe pair were welcomed back into the national fold last week for a pre-World Cup camp in Brisbane after serving year-long suspensions for their part in the \u201csandpapergate\u201d scandal in Cape Town that rocked the sport.
\nBoth have been hampered by viruses since returning from the Indian Premier League but took part in net sessions on Sunday ahead of the first of three practice games against New Zealand beginning on Monday.
\nAll-rounder Glenn Maxwell said he was confident they will be fit to play.
\n\u201cI assume so. They have been sick the last couple of days so, hopefully, they are up and running,\u201d he told reporters.
\n\u201cBut I am pretty sure most of the guys will be ready to go.\u201d
\nThe duo have enjoyed a solid comeback in the Twenty20 IPL, with Warner in blistering form, topping the competition batting rankings with 692 runs from 12 innings.
\nCoach Justin Langer on Friday insisted there was \u201cno tension\u201d between the pair and the rest of the squad, adding: \u201cThey\u00b4re back in the team now. They\u00b4ve been selected, which is brilliant.\u201d
\nMaxwell also denied any awkward moments, saying it had been \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d.
\n\u201cThe way they came in (to the dressing room), we wanted to hear how they had enjoyed the IPL; wanted to hear how Davey enjoyed his time opening the batting with (England\u00b4s Jonny) Bairstow (for Sunrisers Hyderabad),\u201d he said.
\n\u201cAnd they are both superstars. I watched both of them go about it (in IPL) and they were both absolutely brilliant over there.
\n\u201cThere will be no worries about them coming back into the team.\u201d
\nWith Australia\u00b4s defence of their World Cup crown less than a month away, Langer will use the three warm-up games to fine-tune his plans.
\nThe team has been in red-hot form, winning eight one-day internationals on the trot, against India and Pakistan, built on a flourishing opening partnership between Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja.
\nA key decision for Langer is whether to retain that combination or move one of them down to make way for Warner, who traditionally opens the batting, with the line-up for Monday\u00b4s game potentially answering that question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Online BRISBANE Steve Smith and David Warner are set to don the Australian colours this week for the first time since their ball-tampering bans despite struggling with illness. The pair were welcomed back into the national fold last week for a pre-World Cup camp in Brisbane after serving year-long suspensions for their part in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n