Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeSportsInd-Aus: Smith to lead Australia in Ahmedabad Test 

Ind-Aus: Smith to lead Australia in Ahmedabad Test 

Australia has confirmed that stand-in skipper Steve Smith will continue to lead the side in the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad, starting from March 9, as regular captain Pat Cummins will stay at home in Sydney to be with his ailing mother.

Cummins, who returned home after Australia’s second Test defeat in Delhi, will remain in Sydney to be at the side of his mother Maria, who is in palliative care due to breast cancer.

In the absence of a regular skipper, Smith filled in as captain to lead the visitors to a rare win in Indore Test, keeping their hopes of leveling the series in Ahmedabad alive.

Also Read: Australia Registered comprehensive nine-wickets win over India in 3rd Test

According to cricket.com.au, no call has yet been made on Cummins’s availability for the three-match ODI series that follows the Tests, with the fast bowler having also been appointed as 50-over captain last year.

Meanwhile, Jhye Richardson, who suffered a recurrence of a left hamstring injury while playing club cricket on the weekend, has been ruled out of the ODI series against India, commencing on March 17. Nathan Ellis has replaced him in the squad.

Richardson has been plagued by injuries recently, having missed the back end of the recent BBL due to this latest hamstring concern.

Earlier Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne slammed unbeaten 49 and 28 respectively to take Australia to a comprehensive nine-wicket win over India in the third Test at Holkar Stadium on Friday.

Day three’s play began with Australia needing 76 runs to win on a minefield of a pitch. Despite losing Usman Khawaja early for a two-ball duck, Head, and Labuschagne were able to make short work of the target and got the job done in 18.5 overs to make the four-game scoreline 2-1.

 

 

(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the text’s dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)