Steve Smith To Captain Australia In 4th Test vs India, Pat Cummins To Stay Home
Star batter Steve Smith will lead Australia in the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as regular captain Pat Cummins has decided not to return to India
Star batter Steve Smith will lead Australia in the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as regular captain Pat Cummins has decided not to return to India. Smith will captain Australia once again, having led the team a morale-boosting nine-wicket win in the third Test in Indore last week. Cummins, who departed the tour following the second Test in Delhi last month, will remain in Sydney where his mother Maria is ill with breast cancer and is in palliative care.
"Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad to remain in Australia with his family," Cricket Australia said in a brief statement.
"Steve Smith will captain Australia in the final Test of this series."
Cricket Australia, however, didn't mention whether Cummins will take any part in the upcoming ODI series against India.
Pacer Nathan Ellis has replaced injured Jhye Richardson in the Australia squad for ODIs beginning March 17.
After leading Australia to a famous win, Smith suggested that his time as captain is "done" and it's now "Pat's team".
"My time is done. It's Pat's team now," Smith told reporters after the nine-wicket win. "I've obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home.
"But India is a part of the world I love captaining ... it's probably my favourite place in the world to captain.
"Every ball is an event and therefore can dictate what happens after, which is something that I really love and you've got to be ahead of the game.
"So I thought I did it well this week and it was good fun."
If Cummins does miss the ODIs, Australia could look at Smith, as well as Alex Carey.
India Cricket Team
Australia Cricket Team
Steven Smith
Pat Cummins