James Faulkner’s World Cup hopes are up in the air after the Australian allrounder injured himself during Sunday’s Tri-Series final win over England at the WACA Ground.

Faulkner showcased his potential with an unbeaten 50 off just 24 balls, but he was forced off the field midway through his third over after suffering an apparent strain to his side.

With Australia’s opening World Cup game against England just 12 days away, Faulkner has little time to recover from the injury.

Should Faulkner be ruled out of the showpiece tournament, Shaun Marsh and allrounder Moises Henriques would be the frontrunners to replace him.

Glenn Maxwell is hopeful Faulkner’s injury isn’t serious.

“He’s pretty down at the moment,” Maxwell said.

“I think with obviously such an amazing thing coming up for us – the home World Cup – just the thought of any of us being ruled out so late with an injury would hurt a lot of people.

“He’s a super cricketer and a vital cog in this Australian outfit. I think he’s the best finisher in the game comfortably.

“We can just hope it’s nothing and he is being soft and he gets back and trains hard with us next week.”

In better news for Australia, Shane Watson (hamstring) is expected to be fit for upcoming warm-up games against India and the United Arab Emirates.

And skipper Michael Clarke is ahead of schedule in his recovery from hamstring surgery.

Clarke scored 51 in club cricket over the weekend, and he’ll be back in action on Thursday in an invitational game against Bangladesh at Allan Border Field.