'It Will Depend On My Functionality And...': Steve Smith Reveals Plans To Return To Action After Getting Injured During WTC Final

Steve Smith was sent to hospital during the third day of WTC Final between South Africa and Australia after the veteran suffered a compound dislocation of his right little finger while fielding in the slip cordon.

Australia batter Steve Smith has opened up on his finger injury, which he picked up during the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final and also provided a prognosis surrounding his return to international cricket.

Notably, Smith was sent to hospital during the third day of WTC Final between South Africa and Australia after the veteran suffered a compound dislocation of his right little finger while fielding in the slip cordon.

The initial diagnosis for Smith is reasonably good, with the 36-year-old lucky to have avoided surgery and still a chance to feature in Australia's upcoming three-match Test series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.

"I will be in a splint for eight weeks now and I may be able to play with it in a couple of weeks. It will depend on my functionality and what I am able to do, so it was probably the best result I could have hoped for," Smith was quoted by ICC website. 

Smith's injury came about when he dropped South Africa captain Temba Bavuma when he was on just two in the South Africa second innings. The missed chance cost the Aussies dearly as Bavuma went on to score 66 and feature heavily in a match-winning partnership with opener Aiden Markram.

The Australian was standing extremely close to the batter when the drop occurred and was also sporting a helmet to cope with the uneven bounce in the Lord's pitch. 

"I was standing pretty close with the helmet on and as we saw throughout the game a lot of nicks went short of first and second slip. The plan was to stand pretty close and I lost sight of it with the angle that Mitchell Starc was bowling and it kind of went inside Bavuma's hip and I didn't quite see it until really late and it kind of dipped on me a little bit late too as well," Smith said.

"It was tricky, it didn't go in my hand very well and fortunately there is no break there and it just split the skin and dislocated it which made me feel pretty ill at that stage," he added. 

The injury incident is the latest in a long set of dramas Smith has encountered at Lord's over the years. The Australian admitted that he now has a host of mixed emotions when recalling his recent appearances at the famous north London venue. 

"I have a love/hate relationship with this place now. I have had some good memories here and some not so good ones as well," Smith said.

"Getting hit in the head by Jofra (Archer) in 2019 and now having my digit knocked off out here yesterday as well. But it’s a wonderful place to play cricket and I have enjoyed it here and it was a real good game of cricket again," he added.