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Cummins to skip India T20s

Paceman to return to Australia after ODIs in order to prepare for the Magellan Ashes

Key fast bowler Pat Cummins will skip the T20 leg of Australia's Qantas Tour of India in order to rest ahead of the Magellan Ashes this summer.

The paceman is not carrying an injury but selectors have decided to send him home after the fifth ODI in Nagpur on Sunday week in order to freshen up ahead of the start of the Sheffield Shield season.


In an ominous sign for England, the decision to send Cummins home early replicates that of four years ago when Mitchell Johnson was rested from an Indian tour in order to prepare for the Ashes, in which he took a record-breaking 37 wickets in Australia's 5-0 whitewash.

A replacement for Cummins for the three-match T20 series in India, which runs from October 7 to 13, will be named at a later date.

It is understood Cummins will be available to play for NSW Blues in the latter stages of the JLT One-Day Cup, should they make the finals on October 19 and 21, but his main focus will be the start of the JLT Sheffield Shield season on October 27.

"Pat has played a considerable amount of cricket this year after a long period away from the game due to injury," national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.

"His body has handled the return to international cricket well, but we believe the best plan for him ahead of the Ashes Series is to return home to refresh, both mentally and physically, before he prepares for Sheffield Shield cricket."

Aussies collapse as India go 2-0 up

Having been beset by serious injuries over the years, Cummins has ironically been the iron man of Australian fast bowling this year.

With Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson all currently at home nursing injuries ahead of the summer, Cummins has led Australia's pace attack on this ODI tour so far and did so for most of the recent Test series in Bangladesh.

He made his long awaited Test return in India earlier this year when Starc was ruled out due to injury and looks set to play his first Test on home soil this summer when the Ashes get underway in Brisbane on November 23.

The 24-year-old will surely relish a return to the fast and bouncy Australian wickets this summer having spent most of this year on the subcontinent. He defied extreme heat to brilliantly lead the pace attack in Bangladesh and did so again in similarly oppressive conditions in Kolkata on Sunday, taking 1-34 from overs and nudging the 150km/h mark.

Speaking last week, stand-in coach David Saker said the paceman's workload on this tour would be assessed as the series progressed.

Aussies struggle in sapping Kolkata heat

"At this stage we're planning for him to play all the games," Saker, Australia's fast bowling coach who is standing in as head coach for Darren Lehmann on this tour, said.

"We'll look at (resting him), it's obviously been brought up between all of us. We know that his workloads are up there, but we know it's an important series.

"He's really determined to play well over here. It'll be game-by-game basis, we'll play it by ear."

Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

ODI Fixtures


September 17: India won by 26 runs (DLS Method)

September 21: India won by 50 runs

September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur


T20 Fixtures


October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad