NEWS
Follow UsAustralia's regular Test skipper, Pat Cummins, will miss the fourth and the final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting March 9 in Ahmedabad, Cricket Australia confirmed on their official website.
Stand-in captain Steve Smith will lead the team as Cummins spends time in Sydney, where his mother is ill with breast cancer and in palliative care.
Australia won the third Test by nine wickets in Indore under the astute leadership of Smith and secured their place in the summit clash of the World Test Championship final.
Despite leading the visiting side to a famous win, Smith insisted this is Cummins' team, and he is just filling in for his skipper.
"My time is done, and it's Pat's team now. I've been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home," he said in the post-match press conference after the win.
"But India is a part of the world I love captaining, and it's probably my favourite place in the world to captain," he further added.
Meanwhile, Australia have been dealt with yet another blow ahead of their ODI series against India as Jhye Richardson has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
The right-arm pacer suffered a left hamstring injury in the Big Bash League and missed the majority of the season for Perth Scorchers in their title-winning campaign.
While he was declared fit, the 26-year-old suffered a recurrence of the injury while playing club cricket on the weekend, subsequently ruling him out. Nathan Ellis will replace him in the squad.
The team management is also awaiting on the availability of Cummins for the ODI series and it will be interesting to see who leads the side, with Alex Carey, and Smith touted to be the front-runners.
