SYDNEY: Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has left the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a minor hip injury but is on track to play in Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka as planned.
The right-arm pacer will fly home to Sydney to rest his hip before taking part in the one-day international (ODI) and Test legs of the Sri Lanka tour from next month. His recovery is expected to take two weeks.
News of Cummins’ injury comes just days after he played a starring role in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ win over the Mumbai Indians. Cummins hadn’t been selected by KKR coach Brendon McCullum in almost a month but made the most of his return, taking three wickets in an over to finish with figures of 3-22.
As well as leading the Test side, the 29-year-old is a first-choice pick in both limited-overs formats as well and is arguably the most important single Australian player for the hectic upcoming 18 months of cricket.
The Sri Lanka tour kicks off an action-packed year-and-a-half for the Australian cricket team. Before October 2023, Australia will compete in a T20 World Cup, a home Test series over the summer, a tour of India, an Ashes campaign and an ODI World Cup.
Coach Andrew McDonald is likely to rest Cummins and other superstar quicks Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood at different times throughout the 18-month period, just as he did ahead of the recent Pakistan tour.
The Aussies will hope Cummins can shake off his hip injury quick-smart and recapture the brilliance he showed in their last subcontinent tour.
Cummins took more wickets than any other Aussie quick in the tour of Pakistan and was named player of the match in the decisive third Test, snaring eight wickets across the two innings. The 1-0 series win marked the first time since 2011 that Australia had won a Test series on the subcontinent.
