Steve Smith Will Be Ready For T20 World Cup, Has Started Batting In The Nets: George Bailey

Australia's chairman of selectors George Bailey believes that star batsman Steve Smith will be fit in time for the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.

Smith, who is recovering from a left elbow injury suffered earlier this year during the Indian Premier League (IPL), has started batting in the nets at the New South Wales training ground. He was named in Australia's World Cup squad released on Thursday, after missing the recent tours of West Indies and Bangladesh because of injury.

"He's building up nicely. The latest update I had from him is he's facing up over 100 balls in a session pretty comfortably. That's about a quarter of what he'd like to be facing for a Test match so he's got a little bit of building up to go there," Bailey told reporters in a video call.

"There would obviously be a number where the risk would outweigh the benefit. We've got to place a little bit of trust in Steve as someone who knows his body and knows exactly what he needs to be able to perform at a level that's required," Bailey added.