New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson unlikely to make injury comeback in Test series against India

New Zealand speedster Lockie Ferguson is unlikely to make the upcoming Test series against India his international comeback from a calf injury.

The pacer went down with a calf strain 11 overs into his Test debut against Australia in Perth last December, an injury that kept him out of action for almost two months.

He returned last weekend for the Auckland Aces in the Ford Trophy, and will line up for them again this Sunday, as they host the Otago Volts in the final at Eden Park Outer Oval. However, he is not going to hurry his international comeback even though he has had discussions with national team coach Gary Stead.

“Me and Steady talk all the time – he was asking me how I fared in my first domestic game back, then he was asking me how I was going preparing for the weekend,” Ferguson was quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz.

“Of course, the goal is for me to get back as soon as possible, but there is so much cricket coming up this year. We’ve got a lot of white-ball stuff and I head away to the IPL as well, so it’s important with a calf injury, where there’s a high percentage chance of re-injury, that we be conservative.

“Sunday’s my focus and then I’ll be looking to play some first-class cricket.”

New Zealand’s squad for the two Tests against India is set to be named on February 17, with the opening match starting four days later in Wellington on February 21.

Ferguson, who is a regular in the Black Caps squad for limited-overs assignments, is looking to establish himself in the traditional five-day game, something that has not happened till now due to the presence of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Matt Henry in the Test setup.

“Since I started playing professional cricket, it has been my goal to play test cricket, because personally I feel that’s the biggest challenge,” he said. “I am obviously super stoked to be playing one-dayers and T20s for New Zealand, I love every moment of it, but playing red-ball has been a big goal of mine.”

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