NEW DELHI: Australia‘s captain, Pat Cummins, who has been recuperating from a left wrist injury, expressed his intention to stage a comeback to international cricket during the upcoming three-match ODI series against India in late September. This return is strategically timed ahead of the World Cup.

Cummins suffered a fractured wrist during the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval, which took place from July 27 to 31. Medical advice dictated a six-week period of rest for his recovery.
As a result of his injury, the fast bowler will unfortunately be absent from Australia’s five-match ODI series against South Africa, scheduled from September 7 to 17.

However, Cummins aims to rejoin the team for the ODI clashes against India on September 22, 24, and 27. This return aligns with his preparation for the impending World Cup.
“I’ll head over to South Africa at the back-end of that leg. But we’re probably looking more at those one-dayers (against India) ahead of the World Cup.
“It shouldn’t be too bad. Another few weeks and it’ll be right,” said Cummins, sounding hopeful of him playing in the World Cup to be held in India from October 5 and November 19.
Cummins said he would probably assess his role as ODI captain after the World Cup.
“The captaincy for the ODIs, we’ve kind of shared around a little bit. We’ll get over there, and have a look at that,” he said.
Cummins said Mitchell Marsh, who has been appointed as Australia’s T20I captain, is the logical choice to succeed him in the role of the ODI leader.
“The good thing is we have a few options. (Mitchell Marsh) is probably the most obvious one if he’s doing the T20s as well. Off the field, he’s just a great people-person. His energy’s infectious, he’s great to hang around with, always good fun.”

Cummins assumed the role of Australia’s 50-over format captain in the previous year, succeeding Aaron Finch. However, his captaincy has been limited to just two out of the six ODIs that the team participated in during this time.
During Cummins’ absence, Josh Hazlewood temporarily took on the captaincy duties for a match against England.
Moreover, Steve Smith took over as captain for a three-match ODI series against India earlier this year. This change came about due to Cummins’ return to home following the unfortunate passing of his mother.
(With PTI inputs)