Steve Smith to lead Australia in India ODIs; Cummins remains at home

Cummins left the tour after the second Test in Delhi to care for his mother Maria, who died from breast cancer last week.

Steve Smith will lead Australia in the three-match one-day international series. | Photo Credit: AFP

Steve Smith will lead Australia in the three-match one-day international series beginning later this week after Australia confirmed Pat Cummins would not return to India after missing the final two Tests.

Smith had led the Test side in Australia’s final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which ended 2-1 in favour of the host.

Cummins left the tour after the second Test in Delhi to care for his mother Maria, who died from breast cancer last week.

“Pat won’t be coming back, he’s still taking care of what’s happened back home,” coach Andrew McDonald said. “Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process.”

The fast bowler - already Australia’s Test captain - replaced previous ODI skipper Aaron Finch, who retired from the format last year.

Cummins’ first game as ODI captain was against England in a three-match series beginning in November 2022. Cummins has not been replaced in the 15-man squad, but Nathan Ellis was recently recalled after Jhye Richardson withdrew due to a hamstring surgery. 

Squads

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat