Australia captain Pat Cummins appears unlikely to play in the Champions Trophy. He is recovering from an ankle injury. In Cummins' absence, Steve Smith or Travis Head could captain the Kangaroo team. Team coach Andrew McDonald said on Wednesday – "Pat Cummins has not been able to resume any type of bowling so he is heavily unlikely, so that would mean that we do need a captain." Cummins has been nursing an ankle injury and it seems he won't be able to recover in time for the tournament which gets underway on 19 February. Australia suffer Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood blow Not just Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood is also likely to miss the Champions Trophy having suffered an injury during the Border Gavaskar Trophy. "But, as I said, Patty is hugely unlikely, which is a bit of shame, and we have also got Josh Hazlewood, who is battling to be fit at the moment. So that medical information will land over the next couple of days and we will be able to shore that up and let everyone know the direction. The Champions Trophy 2025 will be hosted by Pakistan from February 19 to March 9. Australia recently won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 3-1 against India under Pat Cummins' captaincy. Cummins was the team's top wicket-taker in BGT. In 2023, he also led his team to victory in the ODI World Cup. Steve Smith, Travis Head top contenders to lead Australia "Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we have been having conversations with while we have been building out that Champions Trophy team along with Pat back home. They will be the two that we look at for that leadership post," McDonald added. He continued, "They are the two obvious ones. Steve has done a great job here in the [first] Test match. He has done some good work in one-day international cricket across the journey as well. So it is between those two." Missed second Test against Sri Lanka due to son's birth
Pat Cummins couldn't play the second Test against Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second child. In the Champions Trophy, Australia's first match will be against England on February 22. The Australian team has been placed in Group 2 along with England, South Africa and Afghanistan​​​​​​.Original Article