Steve Smith to lead Australia in ODIs

Talismanic batter Steve Smith is set to lead Australia in the forthcoming three match ODI series against India as Pat Cummins remains unavailable. Cummins had flown back to Australia after the second test fixture of the series to accompany his ailing mother, who subsequently passed away. 

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Alex Carey (wk), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

"Pat won't be coming back, he's still taking care of what's happened back home, Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process," said head coach Andrew McDonald.

Smith, who captained in the Test matches in Cummins’s absence, will continue to do so in the limited overs format. No official replacement has been made for the ace speedster. The side is already without the services of Josh Hazelwood and Jhye Richardson, both of whom have been ruled out due to injury. While Nathan Ellis has been named the latter’s replacement, Sean Abbot is already included in the squad. Australia will also see the return of Glen Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh and David Warner who all have been on the sidelines due to recent injuries. 

This series will act as a dress rehearsal for the ODI World Series set to follow. The global event is scheduled to be played in the same nation later this year. 

"We've got a couple of conversations around the balance of the team we want to play, we've gone in with a structure with eight batters to bat a little bit deeper, we've tried that. So there'll be a mix of combinations as we lead into the World Cup.

"(There are) a lot of allrounders picked in the squad and can they all play in the one team? So we've got to answer a few of those questions," said McDonald.