Champions Trophy 2025: Australia captain Cummins ‘heavily unlikely’ to take part

Champions Trophy 2025: Australia captain Cummins ‘heavily unlikely’ to take part

Australia captain Pat Cummins is all but ruled out of the Champions Trophy, confirmed coach Andrew McDonald on Wednesday.

Cummins has been troubled by an ankle injury that flared up after the test series win over India at the beginning of last month. The right-arm quick the missed the Test series in Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second child.

“Pat Cummins hasn’t been able to resume any type of bowling so he’s heavily unlikely,” McDonald told Australian radio station SEN.

In Cummins’ absence, McDonald projected Travis Head and Steve Smith as potential captaincy options for the Champions Trophy.

“They’re (Smith and Head) the two obvious ones. Steve has done a great job here in the (first) Test match (against Sri Lanka). He’s done some good work in one-day international cricket across the journey as well. So it’s between those two,” said McDonald.

McDonald also added that paceman Josh Hazlewood is also a doubt for the ODI tournament. Hazlewood missed three of the five India tests and the Sri Lanka tour with side and calf injuries. McDonald said he was battling to be fit and a decision would be made once medical information landed in coming days.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh has already been ruled out of the Champions Trophy with a back injury. The tournament starts on Feb. 19 and is being co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates..