IND vs AUS: Pat Cummins to fly home mid-way into India series, Josh Hazlewood also ruled out

Australiancaptain Pat Cummins will fly home mid-way into the India Test seriesdue to an illness in the family but will return to lead the team for the Indore matchthat begins on March 1st. Cummins will leave for Sydney in between of the second and third Test, as first reported in the Australian media. During the second Test in Delhi that India won by six wickets, Cummins didn’t bowl in the second innings but returned with figures of one for 41 in the first innings. With the bat in hand, he scored 33 in the first innings while he got out on a first-ball duck to Ravindra Jadeja in the next innings.

Australia suffered two massive defeats in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series. Firstthey lost the Nagpur Test by an innings and 132 runs, and then they got floored in the Delhi game inside three days losingthe second Test by six wickets. Not only did they lose the chance of winning a Test series in India for the first time since 2004, but they also failed to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophyfor the third straight time, having lost the previous two editions at home in 2018 and 2020.

Meanwhile, two successive losses have also dent Australia’s points percentage on the World Test Championship standings as their PCT has now dropped to 66.67 from 70.83. However, they still remain on the top of the table with India inching closer - who are currently placed second, as their PCT has increased to 64.06.

While for India to directly qualify for the finals of the 2023 WTC, they either have to beat Australia by margins of 3-0, 3-1 or best whitewash them 4-0. Whereas, for Australia to remain in race for the summit clash, they have to avoid any of the above-mentioned outcome and try and win at least one of the remaining two games in addition to hoping that New Zealand doesn’t lose their home Test series against Sri Lanka.

Josh Hazlewood out of India Tests -

Other than Cummins, senior pacer Josh Hazlewood will also be flying to Australia as he got ruled out of the remaining two Tests, as confirmed by head coach Andrew Mcdonald.

Meanwhile, Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc are declared fit and would remain in contention for selection for the next Test in Indore.

Here’s Australia’s squad for the remaining two Tests against India –

Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann, David Warner