Despite a staggered arrival in the Caribbean after the Indian Premier League (IPL), Australia all-rounder Cameron Green believes the side is eager to play their first encounter against Oman at the T20 World Cup. Green, who experienced a "quite ridiculous" amount of travel in 2023, said the 38-hour flight to join the Australian squad, which only resulted in one lost bag, was something he was now used to. The all-rounder was given a few days at home in Perth after RCB were eliminated from the IPL a week ago, and his journey to Barbados was comparatively smooth compared to that of several of his teammates.
"Just one bag lost - my cricket bag but it came the next day. My trip was about 38 hours while Starcy's (Mitchell Starc) was about 60 hours. So overall happy," Green told reporters after Australia's training session on Monday as quoted by cricket.com.au.
That greater comfort in living out of a suitcase helped him find his rhythm late in the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign, rebounding from early troubles to play an important role with bat and ball for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Green was dropped by his new IPL team five games into the competition, but he recovered his footing during Royal Challengers Bangalore's late charge into the playoffs, increasing his strike rate from 107.93 in his first five games to 170.21 in his last seven.
The 25-year-old's efforts may not be enough to get him into Australia's XI when they face Oman on Thursday, but the versatile all-rounder could potentially bat anywhere in the top eight if needed.
"That's the beauty of what I've been exposed to in the last few years. It's not always been a consistent spot that I've locked into. But at the same time, I'm also thankful for that. I feel like I can jump in at many different roles. I think that's where I see myself this tournament, maybe plugging holes in the team," he added.
Green says he's feeling a touch sore after spending more time on the net than any of his colleagues since joining the group, but he believes his preparation couldn't have been better.
Balancing the in-demand Western Australian's workloads across different formats has been a huge concern for Australian management, considering how rapidly he has become a sought-after player in every arena.
"Talking to the other guys, it's been quite ridiculous the amount of travel and the lack of days at home, compared to normal years. I think you weirdly get used to it, been doing it for two years now. This is the most prepared I've been for some sort of tour. I think you (often) go from a Test tour into a T20 or straight into a Test tour - it's pretty extreme. But that's the beauty of the IPL this year. You actually got some unbelievable practice leading into this. So a lot of the guys in our team are pretty confident and hopefully, we can start the tournament off well," Green said.
The World Test Champion and ODI World Cup winner will kickstart its tournament against Minnows Oman on Wednesday.
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