Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Pat Cummins to fly home for family reasons, set to return for third Test | Will Pat Cummins play the third Test against India?
Australia captain Pat Cummins will fly back home on Monday due to a family illness, according to a report in NewsCorp. He is expected to stopover in Sydney for just a couple of days before rejoining the squad ahead of the third Test at Indore starting March 1.
Legspinner Mitch Swepson is also set to rejoin the squad after stopping over in Australia for the birth of his first child.
Due to Australia’s second straight defeat inside three days, there is a ten day gap between the Delhi and Indore Tests. This gap should allow Cummins enough time to prepare for the match; a game in which Australia need to bounce back in given a spot in the World Test Championship Final is also at stake.
Cummins expected to captain Australia in 3rd Test after flying home
Cummins will make the trip back home after Australia produced a horror display on the third day in Delhi. Starting the day on 61/1 and leading by 62, Australia then lost 9/53 to be bundled out for just 113, afterwhich India chased the 115-run target with relative ease.
“Disappointed, we were ahead of the game but we slipped,” Cummins told reporters after the defeat.
“Everyone controls their own game, some balls just have your name. But I think there will be a review. Shot choice, did we go about it the right way?
“I thought they bowled really well, it’s not easy out there, but perhaps some guys went away from their methods,” he said.
Australia’s desire to play the sweep came in for criticism among fans and pundits. As a result, India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which they have held since defeating Australia 2-1 in 2017.
In fact, Australia have won just three of the past 16 Border-Gavaskar Tests dating back to midway through the 2014-15 series down under.
Now, the players will have a couple of days’ rest before preparation begins for the Indore Test. It is expected there will be a few changes to the XI once again, with David Warner (injury) and Matt Renshaw (form) expected to be omitted. Both Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc are a chance to feature.
Australia possible XI for Indore Test: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Travis Head, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Peter Handscomb, 6. Cameron Green, 7. Alex Carey (wk), 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc/Matt Kuhnemann, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Todd Murphy