Pat Cummins Won't Play The Third Test Against India, Steve Smith To Lead The Side

Steve Smith was in Dubai with his wife and has now joined the Australian team on Thursday.

Pat Cummins during practice session.

Source : Getty

Australia skipper Pat Cummins will not be taking part in the third Test against India. He returned to Australia as his mother is ill. Steve Smith will be leading the side for the Indore Test, starting from March 1.

“I have decided against returning to India at this time as my mother is ill and in palliative care. I feel I am best being here with my family,” Cummins said.

JUST IN: Pat Cummins will remain home for the third #INDvAUS Test in Indore after he this week returned to Sydney due to a family illness | @LouisDBCameron https://t.co/zlAXrSclc5 pic.twitter.com/COIpgKUpfD

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 24, 2023

“I appreciate the overwhelming support I have received from Cricket Australia and my teammates. Thanks for your understanding,” Cricket Australia said a statement.

Steve Smith was in Dubai with his wife and has now joined the Australian team on Thursday. He already led the side in 34 Tests between  2014 and 2018 and during the 2017 series, he amassed three centuries.

Earlier, Australia’s speedster Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to an Achilles injury. Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed the same. The pacer will be flying back to Australia for his rehabilitation. Hazlewood confirmed the same as he sustained a left Achilles niggle at last month’s Test against South Africa.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), S Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), R Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, W Sundar, Y Chahal, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.

Australia: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green (injured), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc (injured), Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.