Australia captain Pat Cummins will not be taking part in the third Test against India in Indore starting March 1 as he has decided to stay back in Sydney with his ailing mother. Steve Smith will be leading the Australian side in Cummins’ absence in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Informing the same, as per the quotes in Hindustan Times, Pat Cummins said, “I have decided against returning to India at this time. I feel I am best being here with my family. I appreciate the overwhelming support I have received from Cricket Australia and my teammates. Thanks for your understanding.”
Pat Cummins decided to fly back down under after India defeated Australia in the second Test in Delhi by six wickets. He was initially supposed to rejoin the squad before the third Test match but now he has decided to stay back with his family. He is hopeful of Cummins’ return before the final Test in Ahmedabad but if his mother’s health doesn’t improve then Smith will continue to lead the side.
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Notably, Cummins is also supposed to lead Australia in the three-match ODI series against India scheduled to be commencing on March 17. Like Pat Cummins, Steve Smith too had left India following the loss in the second Test. He spent four days in Dubai with his wife Dani before re-joining the Australia squad in Delhi on Thursday evening (India time), when he was informed of Cummins’ decision to stay back in Sydney 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 that Smith will lead the Test team since his reinstatement as the deputy skipper in late 2021 when Cummins took over from Tim Paine. Smith has filled in as skipper for a couple of Tests that Cummins has been unavailable for – both of which have been in Adelaide over the past two summers.
Smith led the Australian team in 34 Tests between 2014 and 2018, including Australia’s most recent Test tour of India in 2017, a controversy-marred campaign in which Smith dominated with the bat, scoring three centuries.
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Steve Smith’s immediate task will be to stop India from turning the unassailable series into a clean sweep which could hurt Australia’s chances of making it to the World Test Championship. The Rohit Sharma-led side has already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi quite comfortably.
