'Crazy' not to pick Smith, Warner: JL

Justin Langer says Australia would be "crazy" not to pick Steve Smith and David Warner for their World Cup defence, but he's flagged the duo may not be rushed straight back into the national side the moment their bans expire.

Smith and Warner will be available for international selection again on March 29, which could clash with the late stages of Australia's ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE, the dates of which are yet to be confirmed.

It's conceivable the pair could play the tail-end of that series, but Langer wants his star batsmen to play some cricket and prove they've sufficiently recovered from recent elbow surgery before throwing them back into the fire of international cricket.

"We've got to keep working on how they are with their elbows first," Langer said after both players went under the knife last month.

"They're going to need to get some cricket leading into hopefully coming back into the squad. It's all part of the management. We'll have to wait and see what happens there."

Smith's road back to full fitness is the more complicated because his injury and surgery were more serious than Warner's, with the former captain still in an elbow brace for another three weeks.

Smith is expected to come out of the brace and begin an extensive period of rehabilitation on the injury later in February, and his timeline for a return to match fitness will become clearer once that brace is removed.

Warner continued to play on in Bangladesh after his elbow issue arose, with his surgery described as a minor "clean up" of the joint.

If the pair don't play in the Pakistan series, they'll likely use the upcoming IPL to re-discover their best form before returning to the national set-up in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Langer said the process of integrating the pair back into the playing group after the ball-tampering scandal is well-advanced, adding a lack of top-level cricket was the only obstacle that could derail their World Cup plans.

"(It's about) how much cricket they get to play between now and then, but I'm sure we'll find opportunities," he said.

"They'll find opportunities … but I can't see anything else (stopping them).

"We're talking about two great players. We're not talking about two really good players, they're two great players who, on paper, we'd be crazy not to have them in the team (for the World Cup).

"We know it's been a tough time for them, it's been a tough time for Australian cricket.

"And the … integration has been going for the last nine or ten months, or eleven, it's getting closer isn't it. And that'll be a continued process."

Australia's World Cup squad must be finalised by April 23, by which point Smith and Warner are likely to have had almost a month of IPL cricket under their belts.

Australia's squad are scheduled to have a pre-tournament training camp in Brisbane in early May before heading to the UK for two warm-up games, against England and Sri Lanka in Hampshire later that month.

Their Cup defence begins against Afghanistan on June 1 in a day-night clash in Bristol.

Australia's World Cup matches and the finals will be broadcast on the Nine Network, while Fox Sports will carry coverage of every match from the 50-over showpiece event.