Darren Lehmann was hospitalised with deep-vein thrombosis ahead of the final ODI against India last month Andrew Matthews / © PA Photos
Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann is expected to join the squad in New Zealand before the end of the ongoing one-day series. Lehmann was hospitalised with deep-vein thrombosis in Sydney before the fifth ODI against India last month, and it was initially not expected that he would be cleared to fly to New Zealand until at least the end of the three-match ODI series.
However, Lehmann is now likely to join the squad this weekend, pending final medical clearance, which could mean he is with the group and its acting coach Michael di Venuto ahead of Monday’s third and final one-day game in Hamilton. The two-Test series begins in Wellington on Friday next week.
Since Lehmann was hospitalised, Australia has failed to win a match, losing the fifth ODI to India in Sydney before going down 3-0 in the Twenty20 series that followed. A loss in the first ODI against New Zealand in Auckland on Wednesday continued Australia’s lean patch in the absence of their coach.
“We’d love to have our coach here,” captain Steven Smith said after the Auckland defeat. “There’s no doubt about that. He’s unwell at the moment obviously and he’ll be back soon enough. So we’ve got to move on, I don’t think today was him to blame. It was certainly the players. We didn’t adapt well enough and we were outplayed.”
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo