Glenn Maxwell says he is going to have to carefully manage his preparation ahead of the ODI World Cup and may not play all of the lead-in series against India after he was ruled out of the recent T20I series in South Africa due to soreness in his ankle stemming from his previously broken leg.

Maxwell was only in South Africa for four days after experiencing soreness in his left ankle while running a lap at his first training session. It is the same leg that he, in his own words, “snapped in half” in a freak accident last November. He has screws still in the ankle following surgery but this soreness stemmed from a different spot to previous pain he has experienced.

Speaking at the BBL overseas draft on Sunday night where he was part of Melbourne Stars’ list team, Maxwell confirmed that he had had a cortisone injection in the ankle and revealed that he was unsure how much of the India series he will play as he and the Cricket Australia strength and conditioning team try to map out a program to have him fully fit for the World Cup.

“I still want to play some part of that India series,” Maxwell said. “But I’m not feeling any pressure on it. The selectors and the staff have been brilliant with me as well. They don’t want to put too much pressure on me to sort of set that date because they know they’ve got a bit of extra time before the World Cup. So instead of rushing it and probably putting myself a week or two behind, being able to give myself extra time and make sure we get through the whole tournament.”

CA’s medical took a conservative approach by ruling him out of the T20I series in South Africa, which Australia , given he was already set to miss the five ODIs that start on Thursday due to the impending birth of his first child.