Pat Cummins has left Australia’s tour of India due to a ‘serious family illness’, but is expected to be back in time for the third Test.
India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series and retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy after beating Australia by six wickets in Delhi.
Cummins was flying back to Sydney on Sunday as a family member is struggling with a ‘serious illness’, but is scheduled to rejoin his team-mates in time to play the final two matches in Indore and Ahmedabad.
Australia were thrashed by an innings and 132 runs in the first Test but responded well to put themselves in a strong position in Delhi.
But a shocking batting collapse – the tourists lost four second-innings wickets for no runs – put India back on top.
Speaking after Australia’s defeat, Cummins said: ‘This one is particularly disappointing, having been ahead of the game for a lot of it.
‘Those opportunities don’t come often in India, so you’ve got to grab them. This one hurts a bit.’
Australia have also confirmed that pace bowler Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the rest of the series to continue his rehabilitation from an Achilles injury.
In better news for the tourists, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green are in contention to play the third Test having missed the first two matches.
While Australia’s hopes of reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar trophy are over, they will hope to show some fight in the remainder of the series ahead of a possible World Test Championship final against India later in the year.
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