Pat Cummins to miss ODI series in India after tragic death of mother

Aussie captain Pat Cummins will remain in Sydney during the one-day international series against India after the death of his mother Maria last week. Australian cricket players rallied around Cummins and wore black armbands on day two of the fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad, to pay their respects for their skipper's tragic loss.

Cummins ruled himself out of the fourth and final Test after returning home before the third match in Indore to be by his ailing mother's side in Sydney. However, Cummins' mother Maria lost her battle with breast cancer last week.

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"We are deeply saddened at the passing of Maria Cummins overnight," Cricket Australia said in a statement on social media last week. In further news on Tuesday, Australia coach Andrew McDonald revealed Cummins won't be returning to India for the ODI series either.

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

Australia have opted not to replace Cummins, going with a 15-man ODI squad instead of 16. Steve Smith captained Australia in the third and fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Cummins' absence.

The mercurial batter will once again step-in for the three-match series that starts in Mumbai on Friday. Smith hasn't captained the ODI team since 2018.

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Smith is just one of six players who will remain from the Test squad in India during the limited over series. The others include Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc. While there will be disappointment that Australia couldn't level the Test series - having gone down 2-1 - the ODI series will prove important leading into this year's World Cup in India in October.

"It's a proud group and they'll see it as a missed opportunity," McDonald said of the Test series. "Not many teams come here (to India) and get the opportunity like what was presented in Delhi; if it had been 1-1 there who knows how the series goes so there's a lot of what-ifs around that."

David Warner will rejoin the group having returned home from the series after fracturing his elbow in the first innings of the second Test. Another player to rejoin the squad is Ashton Agar after the allrounder left the squad having not been selected for the first two Test matches. Luckless fast bowler Jyhe Richardson was last week ruled out of the series, with Tasmania's Nathan Ellis called in to take his place.

Australia's ODI Squad: Steve Smith (capt), 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.

with AAP

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