IND vs AUS: Steve Smith to remain captain, Pat Cummins ruled out of fourth Test

After Australia made their much-awaited comeback in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by defeating team India at Indore in the third Test of the series, the visitors will hope that the same will be the case when they face India again for the final Test.

In a latest development, skipper Pat Cummins will also be missing from the squad for the fourth Test. The Australian captain ruled himself out of the third Test and will not be available in the final match as well, as he is currently with his seriously ill mother. He returned to Australia after the loss in the second Test. Steve Smith was named the skipper for the third Test and it seems that will be the case in the Ahmedabad match as well.

However, despite his absence in the fourth Test, Cummins is still the captain of Australia for the three-match ODI series that is scheduled to commence on March 17.

Australia will hope to emulate third Test victory in Ahmedabad

After getting dominated by team India in the first two Tests, Australia made quite the comeback in Indore. In the first innings, India were bundled out at a mere 109 runs after fabulous performances by Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon.

Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne followed their excellent performance with the bat, as the former scored 60 off 147 deliveries and helped Australia notch up a score of 197 despite the tough pitch in Indore. The hosts did improve in the second innings, as they managed to score 163 runs thanks to the resilience of veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara.

Despite the improvement, it was not enough in the end, as Australia won the game after they chased the target with nine wickets in hand. It looked like a rejuvenated team under the leadership of Steve Smith, and they will hope that they can emulate the victory in Ahmedabad as well. India need to win the fourth Test for a spot in the World Test Championship final, and the Rohit Sharma-led side will look to go all out when both teams face each other on March 9.