Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 6: As captain Pat Cummins continues to stay at home, Steve Smith will lead Australia against India in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
During the second Test in Delhi last month, Cummins left for home; he will continue to live with his mum in Sydney. According to Cricket Australia, Cummins’ mother Maria has breast cancer and is receiving palliative care.
With a nine-wicket victory in the third Test in Indore, Australia under Smith’s captaincy shocked India.
Australia will once again skipper the visitors in the fourth and final Test as they attempt to tie the series, despite Smith’s insistence that his full-time captaincy is done.
“My time is done. It’s Pat’s team now. 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,” Smith said after the Indore Test win.
The management of the Australian team has not yet decided whether Cummins would be available for the three-match ODI series that will follow the Test series. After Aaron Finch retired, Cummins was named Australia’s 50-over captain the previous year.
Jhye Richardson, a fast bowler, has been ruled out of the ODI series after re-injuring his left hamstring while playing club cricket over the weekend. Nathan Ellis has taken Richardson’s spot in the squad.
Richardson’s career has recently been hampered by ailments, and the fast bowler missed the Big Bash League’s final two weeks because of a hamstring issue.
