Don't hurry back, Hastings warns Marsh

Victorian allrounder John Hastings has warned Mitch Marsh to resist the temptation to take any shortcuts during his rehabilitation from his shoulder injury in pursuit of an early return to the cricket field.

Marsh could be sidelined for as long as nine months as he faces a shoulder reconstruction that would keep him out of the game for the remainder of 2017, according to a report in the West Australian on Monday.

The allrounder returned home from India last week when it became clear that the shoulder injury he was managing would prevent him from playing at full capacity for the remainder of the series.

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Hastings is speaking from experience when it comes to shoulder reconstructions, having undergone the procedure not once, but twice - most recently in 2011.

"I’m shattered for him, I’m good mates with him and we’ve been on the text a bit during the last week,” Hastings told RSN’s The Breakfast Club on Tuesday.

"I know what it’s like from experience, I’ve had four shoulder operations - two major reconstructions and a couple of clean ups.

"The worth thing for him is the unknown.

"He doesn’t know how he’s going to (bowl) when he comes back, that’s his biggest thing."

Hastings said it took 18 months for him to get his shoulder completely right after his 2011 surgery, but expects the 25-year-old to bounce back faster – although he cautioned against any attempts to rush back sooner than advised.

"With my last one in 2011, I missed the whole summer and it really took me 18 months to get it right,” Hastings explained.

"But that was after four previous injuries on the same shoulder.

"This is Mitch’s first one and the biggest advice I’d give him is to make sure he ticks every box in his rehab and it’ll come back. Simple as that.

"These sorts of things can be fixed, but you have to really knuckle down and do the rehab or they can drag on a bit."

Marsh was named in Australia’s Test squad for India despite having been ruled out of January's VB ODI Series against Pakistan after injuring the same shoulder.

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He missed the preceding ODI tour to New Zealand, but recovered in time to play in Australia's sole warm-up match in Mumbai before returning to the starting XI for the first Test in Pune, however, after the first two Tests his shoulder had deteriorated to a point where he was unable to continue.

"He’s up against it, but I hope he gets back to the bowler he was,” Hastings said.

"He’s been labouring with this for a long time so hopefully (surgery) freshens him up and he gets strong and fit again and come back to have a crack next summer."

Marsh has been replaced in Australia’s 16-man Test squad by allrounder Marcus Stoinis.

Hastings is backing his Bushrangers teammate to thrive if handed a Baggy Green when the third Test gets underway in Ranchi on Thursday, while also tipping Pat Cummins to make a return to the XI in place of the injured Mitchell Starc.

"They’ve obviously lost Starc so I think they’ll need that pace, I’d expect Cummins to slip straight in there and play,” Hastings said.

"It they’re looking for a like-for-like replacement then Cummins has to play, and if they want to go like-for-like with their allrounder too, we’ll probably see Stoinis debut.

"I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stoinis slot straight in, he bowled well in Indian conditions when he was there a couple of years ago with the ‘A’ side.

"He’s a pretty good player of spin as well."

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Hastings has himself been on the sidelines due to injury this summer, undergoing surgery on his right knee late last year.

But the 31-year-old confirmed he has now returned to training and will next week head to the United Kingdom, where he has signed on for a stint with England county side Worcestershire.

"I’ve had a good week at training … and I fly out on Monday,” Hasting said.

"It’s come around quickly but the body has been getting better and better. I haven’t been this excited to play a game of cricket since I was a kid."

Test Squads

India (for third and fourth Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune - Australia won by 333 runs.

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru - India won by 75 runs.

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala