Steve Smith will continue to lead Australia in the upcoming three-match ODI series against India as Pat Cummins stays back in Australia. Cummins had returned to Australia after the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be with his ailing mother, who subsequently passed away.
“Pat won’t be coming back, he’s still taking care of what’s happened back home, Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process,” said head coach Andrew McDonald.
Smith, who led in the Test matches in Cummins’s absence, will continue being at the helm. There has been no replacement named for the pace spearhead. The side is already missing the services of Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson who were out injured. While Nathan Ellis had been drafted as a replacement for the latter, Sean Abbott was already a part of the squad.
Australia will be buoyed by the return of David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh who had been sidelined due to injuries recently.
Pat Cummins won’t return to India for the ODI leg of the tour #INDvAUS
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 14, 2023
