Australia's regular Test skipper Pat Cummins had to rush back home after the conclusion of second Test against India due to family emergency which also forced him to withdraw from the third Test which will be played in Indore from March 1. It was later learnt that Cummins' mother is going through a serious ailment and has been kept on palliative care. Since then wishes started pouring in from all across the world as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also took to Twitter to wish Cummins' family the best of health.
The latest to join the series of wishes is England's supporters Group, ‘The Barmy Army’, who posted a heart-touching tribute to Cummins' ailing mother where an individual can be seen playing the tune of 'Maria' from West Side Story with a trumpet.
"‘Maria’ from West Side Story in support of Pat Cummins, who’s mother Maria has entered palliative care," The Barmy Army wrote in the caption.
When Cummins came across Barmy Army's Twitter post, he couldn't stop himself from responding. While replying to them he said that he showed the video to his mother and she absolutely loved it. “This is amazing @TheBarmyArmy, thank you. Mum loved watching this and felt very touched," Cummins wrote in his response.
Since Cummins is out of the third Test, Steve Smith will be leading the Australian pack in Indore. In absence of Australin pace spearhead, Mitchell Starc is set to return for third Test despite feeling discomfort in his injured finger. Starc had dislocated the tip of his middle finger during Boxing Day Test against South Africa. Starc will continued to wear the splint but he will push through the pain to lead Australia's pace attack as they are currently down by two Tests in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
Talking about the series, Australia suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of India to trail the four-match Test series 0-2. The visitors lost the first match by an innings and 132 runs and then followed it up with six wicket hammering in Delhi Test. India wrapped up both the matches within three days to dent Australia's confidence.
Australia squad for the third Test: Steve Smith (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matt Kuhnemann.
India's Test squad for 3rd and 4th Test: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, S Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, R Jadeja, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
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