In the second unfortunate incident in less than a year, Glenn Maxwell’s participation in Australia’s World Cup match against England has been ruled out after a mishap involving a moving golf cart. Maxwell sustained concussion and facial bruising when he lost his grip while standing on the back of the cart in the dark following a round at Kalhaar Blues and Greens golf club in Ahmedabad. Fortunately, no one else was injured in the incident.

Australian players and coaches were taking a break following their victory over New Zealand in Dharamsala. Due to Cricket Australia’s concussion protocols, Maxwell will miss the clash against their Ashes rivals at the Narendra Modi Stadium. While there won’t be a replacement in the squad, Australia are hopeful that Maxwell will only miss one game.

The incident follows Maxwell’s leg injury at a birthday party in Melbourne last November, an injury he is still recovering from. Notably, Australia’s previous World Cup campaign was also marred by a golf accident involving wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.

“Glenn and a few other players jumped on the back of carts, and unfortunately on the way back to the team bus, he lost his grip and sustained that injury,” said coach Andrew McDonald.

It was only an obvious accident. He’s a key member of our team, so ideally he’ll miss just one game.

Despite the setback, Maxwell remains in good spirits and is expected to continue training. However, concussion injuries require mandatory periods of recuperation. Maxwell is anticipated that Maxwell will be back for Australia’s match against Afghanistan in Mumbai, their second-to-last group-stage game before the semi-finals.

Marcus Stoinis is the likely replacement, having recovered from a calf niggle. Cameron Green is also an option, and McDonald mentioned the possibility of moving Mitch Marsh down the order. Travis Head is set to take on a larger role with the ball in Maxwell’s absence, as Maxwell’s off-spin has been a crucial asset for the team.

Marnus Labuschagne, who has been working on his off-spin along with his leg-spin, is expected to maintain his place in the lineup. There may be competition between him and Stoinis when Maxwell returns.

McDonald said, “We have Marnus who can do some spinning, and we’ll be looking at Travis to take some tempo out of the game (with the ball).

Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa