New Delhi: Cricket Australia has confirmed that star batter Steve Smith will lead the Australian side against India in the upcoming One Day International (ODI) series. Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins had returned home after the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be with his ailing mother who was in palliative care. Sadly, Cummins’ mother died a few days later.
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Steve Smith to captain Australia
In the pacer’s absence, Steve Smith led Australia in the remaining two Test matches in Indore and Ahmedabad. Australia head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Smith will continue to lead Australia on the India tour.
“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.”
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Nathan Ellis to replace Jhye Richardson
There is no replacement for Cummins in the squad. Nathan Ellis was called up as the replacement for Jhye Richardson.
“We’ve got a couple of conversations around the balance of the team we want to play, we’ve gone in with a structure with eight batters to bat a little bit deeper, we’ve tried that,” said the coach.
“So there’ll be a mix of combinations as we lead into the World Cup. (There is) a lot of all-rounders picked in the squad and can they all play in one team? So we’ve got to answer a few of those questions,” McDonald added.
Australia’s squad for ODI
Australia: 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
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