Cummins returned to Australia before the start of the third Test and missed two of the four Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches, which India won 2-1 after the fourth Test in Ahmedabad ended in a draw.
Smith captained India in the last two Tests in Cummins’ absence and led the team to a comeback victory in Indore, after the visitors lost badly in Nagpur and Delhi to lose 2- 0.
“Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through this grieving process,” head coach Andrew McDonald said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
There is no replacement for Cummins on the team. Nathan Ellis was called up as a replacement for Jhye Richardson, who suffered another recurrence of his hamstring injury.
Smith has captained Australia in a total of 51 ODIs.
Leaving aside the absence of fast bowlers in the form of Cummins and injured Josh Hazlewood, Australia have selected a full squad for the series in a bid to prepare for the 50+ World Cup, which will be held in October-November this year. in India.
“We’ve had some conversations about the balance of the team we want to play,” McDonald said. “We came in with an eight-hitter structure to hit a little deeper, we tried that. So there will be a mix of combinations as we head into the World Cup.
“A lot of versatile players (have been) selected in the team and they can all play in the same team. So we have to answer a few of these questions.”
Maxwell returns to the side after suffering a leg injury last November. A cautious approach is likely to be taken with him.
David Warner is fit again after suffering an elbow injury in the Test series against India and Mitchell Marsh is also on the way to returning from ankle surgery, which disrupted his home season after the Cup of the T20 world last year.
Ashton Agar is also back in India after a drop in the pecking order among test spinners. He made a statement by taking 5 from 64 for Western Australia in the recent Marsh Cup final.
(AI Image)
Australia ODI team: David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
(With contributions from the agency)
