Pat Cummins has been called into Australia’s squad for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar series in India after Mitchell Starc (on Friday) was ruled out due to a stress fracture in his foot.
The left-arm pacer suffered the problem during the second Test in Bengaluru and after he failed to get rid of the pain several days after the match, he was sent for scans on Friday (March 10), which revealed a stress fracture. Starc is the second player to fly home after all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a shoulder injury.
Cummins, who played his only Test way back in 2011, made a brilliant return to Sheffield Shield in New South Wales’s impressive eight-wicket win over South Australia this week. Playing his first Shield game in six years, the 23-year-old looked sharp throughout the match and took 8 for 104 to bag the Man of the Match award.
“It’s unfortunate to lose Mitch out of the squad in India,” Australia’s selection panel chair Trevor Hohns said on Saturday (March 11).
The injury-prone bowler, who has endured a miserable run of injuries since making his international debut in 2011, has enjoyed an injury-free campaign this season, featuring in all of Australia’s limited-overs games in addition to playing in the Big Bash League and the Matador Cup.
“In selecting Pat, we were looking for a strike bowling replacement option. Pat has impressed in his return to cricket this summer with consistent performances in his ODI, Twenty20 International and Big Bash matches,” he added.
Speaking about Cummins’ performance in the Shield game, Hohns said:
“He has also had a very good Sheffield Shield return for New South Wales, after six years off, where he made a notable Shield best 4-57 in the first innings, before bettering those figures in the second innings with 4-47 in his man-of-the-match performance.”
Cummins, who has played 28 one-day internationals and 18 T20 Internationals so far, has the experience of playing in India due to his stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but he’ll have his task cut out if he is selected to partner Josh Hazlewood in the crucial third Test, which begins on March 16 at Ranchi.