NEWS
Follow UsAustralia were dealt with a big blow when their ODI skipper Pat Cummins was all but ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa with a fractured wrist. The all-rounder picked up his injury during the first day of the fifth Test and, ever since, has been spotted with a cast on his left wrist to recover from injury.
Ideally, Australia would hope for their captain to be back in time for the ODIs against South Africa, but given that the ODI World Cup is around in October, Cummins is likely to only make his comeback in India ODIs. The all-rounder was named Aaron Finch’s successor just before the World Cup, as Australia looks to add to their ODI World Cup titles.
"It's not too bad," Cummins said. "I'll head over to South Africa at the backend of that leg, but probably more those one-dayers ahead of the World Cup. Another few weeks and I'll be right.
"It hurt day one when I did it and hurt a lot when I was batting but didn't think it was too bad. With each day it got a bit sorer, so knew it was probably bone as opposed to muscle."
Since being named as the full-time captain, Cummins hasn’t been a regular in the ODI setup, with Josh Hazlewood and Steve Smith stepping in to lead the team in his absence. Given that Mitchell Marsh is captain of the T20I setup, there are high chances that the all-rounder could lead the side in the 50-over format as well.
"The captaincy for the ODIs we've kind of shared around a little bit," he said. "We'll get over there, have a look at that. The good thing is we have a few options. [Mitch] is probably the most obvious one if he's doing the T20s as well.
"Wouldn't be surprised as well with the amount of ODIs before the World Cup that some guys might miss a game. If Mitch misses one, someone else might step up."
While the decision to name Marsh the T20I captain came as a shock considering some of the other options on the squad, Cummins believes that Marsh is just the ‘right person’ for the job.
"He's always been a huge member of the team. A real leader," Cummins said.
"And off the field think he's just a great people person. His energy is infectious, he's great to hang around with, always good fun. Just gets the temperature of the room right more than anyone else. He's going to be great for that T20 squad."
