Australia captain Pat Cummins will not play the third Test against India in Indore from March 1 as he has decided to stay with his ailing mother in Sydney. Steve Smith will lead the Australian side in the absence of Cummins in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Cummins said “I have decided not to return to India at this time, I feel at my best when I’m here with my family. I appreciate the tremendous support I’ve received from Cricket Australia and my teammates. Thank you for your understanding.”
Cummins returned home after India beat Australia by six wickets in the second Test in Delhi. He was originally due to return before the third Test match, but has now decided to stay with his family and support them during this difficult time.
The Australian think-tank is hoping for Cummins’ return before the final Test in Ahmedabad, but Smith will continue to lead the side unless his mother’s health improves.
Notably, Cummins is also slated to lead Australia in the three-match ODI series against India from March 17. Like Cummins, Steve Smith left India after the defeat in Delhi. He spent four days in Dubai with his wife Dani before rejoining the Australia team in Delhi on Thursday night (Indian time) when he was informed of Cummins’ decision to stay home for the next Test.
The Australian team is currently training in Delhi and will leave for Indore on Sunday. It will be the third time Smith has led a Test side since his re-appointment as vice-captain at the end of 2021, when Cummins took over from Tim Paine. Smith has captained the two Tests for which Cummins has been unavailable – both in Adelaide within the last two years.
Smith captained 34 Tests between 2014 and 2018, including Australia’s last Test tour of India in 2017, a campaign marred by controversy in which Smith dominated with the bat and scored three centuries.
Smith’s immediate task will be to prevent India from getting a clean sweep that could damage Australia’s chances of making it to the Test World Cup. The Rohit Sharma-led side have already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi quite comfortably.
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