Australia captain Pat Cummins will miss the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test against India in Ahmedabad, Cricket Australia said in a statement. Cummins left India just hours after the second Test loss in Delhi, flying home to Sydney to be with his mother, Maria is ill with breast cancer and is in palliative care.Steve Smith stood in as skipper for the third time since Cummins became Test captain in November 2021, and helped to guide the Aussies to a nine-wicket win in Indore. It's looking increasingly likely that the star batter will have to do so again for the final Test, with coach Andrew McDonald revealing the team has been in constant contact with their missing skipper.
"There were exchanges going there (between players and Cummins on Friday)," Australia coach Andrew McDonald said on Saturday. "He's obviously dealing with what he's dealing with at home but he's still so invested in this group."Our thoughts are still with him and his family at this difficult time. We're in constant contact with him daily, so at the moment he's not here and the Test match is a few days away, so we'll discuss with Pat on a daily basis."While Smith took control of the Aussie side with distinction in Cummins' absence, the 33-year-old insists he has no desire to take over the captaincy role full-time. Cummins' field placements and bowling changes were criticised by Aussie greats Mark Waugh and Michael Clarke during the first two Tests.
