Star batsman 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 to a morale-boosting nine-wicket victory in the third Test in Indore last week. Cummins, who left the tour after the second Test in Delhi last month, will remain in Sydney, where his mother, Maria, is ill with breast cancer and is in hospice 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 wants to captain Australia in the final test of this series.”
Cricket Australia, however, did not mention whether Cummins will feature in the upcoming ODI series against India.
Pacer Nathan Ellis replaced the injured Jhye Richardson in Australia’s squad for ODI from 17 March.
After leading Australia to a famous victory, Smith suggested that his time as captain was “over” and he is now “Pat’s team”.
“My time is up. Now it’s Pat’s team,” Smith told reporters after the nine-wicket victory. “Obviously I’ve been able to be on my feet this week, obviously under difficult circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him at home.”
“But India is a part of the world that I love to captain… it’s probably my favorite place in the world to captain.
“Every ball is an event and therefore can dictate what happens next, which is something I really love and you have to be ahead of the game.”
“So I thought I did well this week and it was a lot of fun.”
If Cummins loses the ODIs, Australia could look at Smith, as well as Alex Carey.
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