Pat Cummins Availability In Doubt for Champions Trophy 2025

January 9, 2025: Australia captain Pat Cummins is now in doubt for the upcoming Champions Trophy due to an ongoing ankle problem, which had been affecting him during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Cummins will miss Australia’s two-match Test tour of Sri Lanka. He is set to undergo scans in the coming days to assess the severity of the injury and determine whether he will be fit to play in the Champions Trophy, scheduled for next month across Pakistan and the UAE.

George Bailey, Australia’s chair of selectors, indicated that the team would need to wait for the scan results to better understand the situation. “We’ll have to wait and see when that scan comes back and see how it’s tracking. There’s a little bit of work to do,” Bailey said.

Despite the injury, Cummins has been in exceptional form as the leader of Australia’s pace attack, bowling 167 overs during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and taking 25 wickets at an average of 21.36, the most by any Australian bowler in the series. His contributions were critical to Australia’s competitiveness in the series, even as they faced some tough challenges.

Since leading Australia to victory in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Cummins has only played two ODIs, leading the team against Pakistan in the first two games on home soil before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His absence from the ODI fold has led Australia to rely on stand-in captains, including Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh, and Josh Inglis, who have filled the leadership void in various matches.

However, Cummins isn’t the only injury concern for Australia’s pace attack. Josh Hazlewood is also recovering from a calf injury, which sidelined him for the final two Tests of the series against India and kept him out of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide as well. Bailey expressed optimism about Hazlewood’s recovery, saying, “Josh is working really hard, and all the news of how he’s responding to his recovery from the calf injury is coming along really well.”

Bailey acknowledged that Hazlewood might still face some tightness due to the time he has missed, especially with the physical demands that will be placed on the fast bowlers in the upcoming fixtures.

With Cummins and Hazlewood both facing injury concerns, Australia’s pace attack is under pressure heading into the Champions Trophy. The team will be closely monitoring their fitness in the lead-up to the tournament to assess whether both bowlers can be fit and available for selection.