Who will captain Australia in ICC Champions Trophy 2025 if Pat Cummins is ruled out? Coach Andrew McDonald names two players

Pat Cummins was Australia’s leading wicket-taker in BGT 2024-25.

Australia have suffered a massive injury setback just weeks before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, with captain Pat Cummins now unlikely to be part of the tournament.

Speaking to SEN, Australia coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that captain Pat Cummins has not resumed bowling yet and is “heavily unlikely” to fly to Pakistan for the upcoming ICC event.

Cummins missed the Sri Lanka tour due to the birth of his second child and has also been recovering from an ankle injury sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). The 31-year-old pacer played all five tests in the BGT and played a key role in Australia’s 3-1 series win, finishing as their highest wicket-taker with 25 wickets.

Andrew McDonald has now named two players who can lead the side in case of Cummins’ potential absence.

Who will captain Australia in ICC Champions Trophy 2025 if Pat Cummins is ruled out?

Speaking to SEN, McDonald identified Steve Smith and Travis Head as possible captaincy options if Cummins misses the tournament due to injury.

McDonald said, “Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we’ve been having conversations with while we’ve been building out that Champions Trophy team along with Pat back home. They’ll be the two that we look at for that leadership post.“

The Australia coach added that Smith has done a great job as a captain, highlighting his past ODI record and recent performances as the skipper in the first test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

He added, “They’re the two obvious ones. Steve has done a great job here in the [first] Test match. He’s done some good work in one-day international cricket across the journey as well. So it’s between those two.“

Australia will begin their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against England on February 22, before meeting South Africa on February 25 and Afghanistan on February 28.

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