Ahmedabad: Steve Smith will lead Australia in the fourth and final Test against India as regular captain Pat Cummins remains with his unwell mother back home.
Smith had captained the side in Indore in Cummins’ absence. Cummins had flown back home after the Delhi Test to be with his mother who is in palliative care.
Cricket.com.au reported that Cummins will remain in Sydney.
Three ODIs follow the final Test and a decision on Cummins’ participation in those games will be taken later.
Smith had captained Australia to a nine-wicket win in Indore last week. India lead the series 2-1 and need a win to qualify for the World Test Championship final.
With the win in Indore, Australia secured their qualification for the WTC summit clash in London in June.
Smith, who captained Australia to their first win in India in six years, had enjoyed leading the side but said it was very Cummins’ team.
“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. But India is a part of the world I love captaining … it’s probably my favourite place in the world to captain. Every ball is an event and therefore can dictate what happens after, which is something that I really love and you’ve got to be ahead of the game. So I thought I did it well this week and it was good fun,” Smith had said after the nine-wicket in Indore.
The website also reported that Nathan Ellis has replaced injured Jhye Richardson in the Australia squad for ODIs beginning March 17.
