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India series the target for Australia star in race to return from injury ahead of 2023 World Cup
Australia will be playing ODI series in South Africa and India before embarking on their World Cup campaign.
Australia have announced their preliminary 18-player squad for the 2023 World Cup to be hosted by India. Cricket Australia had said that the squad will be the same for their upcoming ODI series against South Africa and India which will be played in the run-up to the marquee tournament. The preliminary squad is expected to be pruned to a 15-player list before the tournament.
Pat Cummins had been confirmed as the player who will lead them in the tournament, despite the fact that he is currently recovering from a wrist injury that he had picked up during the Ashes. Cummins has now said that he will try to return to international cricket during the latter stages of their tour of South Africa but it is the India series in which he is realistically looking to making a full return.
"It hurt day one when I did it and it hurt a lot when I was batting, but I didn't think it was too bad," Cummins is quoted as saying by cricket.com.au of the injury. "Then with each day it got a little bit sorer so I knew it was probably bone as opposed to a muscle (issue)."
"I'll head over to South Africa at the back-end of that leg. But we're probably looking more at those one-dayers ahead of the World Cup. It shouldn't be too bad. Another few weeks and it'll be right."
Cummins to take call on long-term ODI captaincy after World Cup
Cummins, who is also Australia's Test has said that he hasn't decided if he wants to continue as ODI captain after the World Cup. Mitchell Marsh will be leading Australia in the T20I series against South Africa while the likes of Steve Smith, Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood are all part of the tour as well. They are all players who have captained Australia in the past in ODI cricket.
"I haven't thought about it too much to be honest. We'll play this World Cup and then assess it after that," Cummins said. "The good thing is we've got a few options (for South Africa). (Marsh) is probably the most obvious one if he's doing the T20s as well." Cummins also said that Marsh, whose stature as an all-rounder and particularly as a top order batter in limited overs cricket has gone up in recent months, is a good candidate to take over as Australia's permanent T20 captain. Australia have not had one player set in the role since Aaron Finch retired.
"He's always been a huge member of the team, a real leader," Cummins said. "As a captain, that's what you want, a guy that's going out there, taking the game on, someone we can all get behind. Off the field, he's just a great people-person. His energy's infectious, he's great to hang around with, always good fun."
Australia's series three match ODI series against India will be played on September 22, 24 and 27. They start their World Cup campaign on October 8 against hosts India in Chennai.
