'He should be ready to go': Warner may play the third Test even if he is not 100% fit

David Warner's return will provide the Australians much-needed confidence for the third Test match, however, his fitness is still in doubt and the assistant coach Andrew McDonald on Thursday said that the opener will play against India even if he is not 100 per cent fit.

“That’s a real, clear option. He may not be 100 per cent fit -- who is coming off an injury? You never know until you get out there,” McDonald said during a virtual press conference.

“Look, if he’s 90-95% fit and the conversation is that he’s fit enough to be able to go out there and perform his duties for the team, then I’m sure that’ll be a conversation the coach has with the player.

Warner sustained a groin muscle tear during the ODI series against the Men in Blue and will return to bolster Australia's batting order. 

“Most times Justin (Langer) is pretty open with the players in terms of giving them accountability around that.”Warner has been named in the squad along with Victorian young gun Will Pucovski for the third Test as Australia look to bounce back from the eight-wicket loss in the Boxing Day Test here.McDonald said Warner is optimistic about making a comeback in Sydney.

“He’s (Warner) very optimistic that he should be ready to go, which is great news for us. We are really excited to have him back.

“I’m sure that he’s excited to come back into the group as well. There’s nothing worse than being injured when you are at the top of your game as David has been over a period of time.”Pucovski, too, is set for a potential debut after the youngster suffered a concussion in the first warm-up match against the Indians earlier this month.

“He will be put through tests whatever it needs to be put through to make himself available for selection to potentially open the batting. So it’s good to have a little bit of depth out there.”One of the biggest setbacks for the Aussies so far has been a rare slump in form for batting mainstay Steve Smith, who has so far scored only 10 runs in four innings in the series.

“I wouldn’t be too quick to be judging Steve Smith not looking good in the middle. He looks pretty solid and hitting the ball well at the nets,” McDonald said.

The third Test will be played from January 7-11 at the Sydney Cricket ground.