IND vs AUS ODI series: Pat Cummins to remain at home, Steve Smith set to continue as skipper

Australia captain Pat Cummins will not return to India for the ODI leg of the tour, following the death of his mother Maria last week and Steve Smith will continue to lead the team, Cricket Australia has said in a statement.
Cummins returned home after Australia’s second Test defeat in Delhi to be close to his family, with his mother Maria placed into palliative care.
“Pat won’t be coming back, he’s still taking care of what’s happened back home,” coach Andrew McDonald said.

Pat Cummins won’t return to India for the ODI leg of the tour #INDvAUS
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 14, 2023
“Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process.”
Cummins took over the ODI captaincy after Aaron Finch’s retirement last year but has led them in just two matches so far, both against England after the T20 World Cup.
Pat Cummins’ mother Maria Cummins (extreme left) passed away on Friday. (Instagram/Pat Cummins)
Cummins won’t be replaced in the squad which leaves Australia with 15 players to choose from in the three-match series which begins in Mumbai on Friday. Nathan Ellis was previously called up as a replacement for Jhye Richardson who suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury.
However, David Warner, who was ruled out due to injury after the second Test is set to to return to the side after missing the final two Tests due to a fractured elbow.
Ashton Agar has returned after being sent home midway through the Test series and will reform his spin partnership with Adam Zampa.
The series also marks the returns of Glenn Maxwell (broken leg) and Mitchell Marsh (ankle surgery) from serious injuries.
“We’ve got a couple conversations around the balance of the team we want to play, we’ve gone in with a structure with eight batters to bat a little bit deeper, we’ve tried that,” said the coach.
“So there’ll be a mix of combinations as we lead into the World Cup.
“(There is) a lot of allrounders picked in the squad and can they all play in the one team. So we’ve got to answer a few of those questions.”
The first ODI of the three-match series will be played on March 17 in Mumbai.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), 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
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat