Cricket Australia (CA) on March 14 (Tuesday) announced that Pat Cummins will not return to India for the three-match ODI series against the Men in Blue. In Cummins' absence, Steve Smith, who led the Baggy Greens in the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series, will continue to lead the side in the white-ball series as well.
“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,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said.
Cummins has returned to Australia after the second Test match in Delhi in order to be with his mother Maria, who recently died from breast cancer. No replacement has been announced for Cummins - the bowler.
Meanwhile, swashbuckling opening batter David Warner has recovered from his injury and will return to India to take part in the ODI series. Warner too left for Australia after the completion of the Delhi Test. Ashton Agar will also join the Australia ODI squad in India.
Right-arm pacer Josh Hazlewood continues to be out after he suffered an Achilles injury.
India and Australia will compete in a three-match ODI series which is scheduled to begin on March 17. The series is of great significance for both countries as the 2023 ODI World Cup is slated to be played in India later in the year.
Australia squad for India ODIs: Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
India squad: India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkatt
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