IND vs AUS: Pat Cummins set to miss ODI series against India, Steve Smith to retain captaincy

Pat Cummins is set to miss the three-match ODI series beginning on March 17. Steve Smith was named as the skipper for final two matches of the Border-Gavaskar trophy and he will continue to lead Australia in the upcoming series.

Earlier, Cummins left for Australia after the second Test in Delhi to be with his ailing mother, who passed away last week. Australian players wore black armbands as a mark of respect for Cummins' mother in the recently concluded fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad. 

"Pat won’t be coming back, he’s still taking care of what’s happened back home," coach Andrew McDonald said. "Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process."

Cummins took over the ODI captaincy after Aaron Finch's retirement in 2022 but has led the team in just two matches so far.

The first ODI of upcoming series will be played in Mumbai on Friday. Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh will make a return to the side after recovering from serious injuries. According to McDonald, the team is considering how many allrounders can fit in the ODI squad.

"We've got a couple of



conversations around the balance of the team we want to play, we've gone in with a structure with eight batters to bat a little bit deeper, we've tried that," said the coach.

"So there'll be a mix of combinations as we lead into the World Cup. 

"(There are) a lot of allrounders picked in the squad and can they all play in the one team? So we've got to answer a few of those questions."

Schedule for the ODI series

First ODI: Friday, March 17 (Mumbai)

Second ODI: Sunday, March 19 (Vizag)

Third ODI: Wednesday, March 22 (Chennai)

Full Squads

Australia: 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: 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 Unadkat.