Smith may lead in Ahmedabad too as Cummins stays home

NEW DELHI: Steve Smith has no ambition to be Australia’s full-time captain again but the 33-year-old may continue to lead them in the fourth and final Test against India as regular captain Pat Cummins stays put in Sydney.

Cummins returned home after the second Test in Delhi to be with his ailing mother after Australia had dropped 2-0 behind in the four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Smith led their brilliant turnaround in Indore where they beat India by nine wickets inside three days to secure their place in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) in June.

Coach Andrew McDonald said Cummins remained in tou­ch with rest of the squad in India.

“He’s obviously dealing with what he’s dealing with at home but he’s still so invested in this group,” McDonald told reporters on Saturday.

“Our thoughts are still with him and his family at this difficult time.

“We’re in constant contact with him daily, so at the moment he’s not here and the Test match is a few days away, so we’ll discuss with Pat on a daily basis.”

Smith led Australia between 2014 and 2018 before he was stripped off the honour following a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

He remains Cummins’s deputy since the paceman became Test captain in November 2021 and has stepped in three times to lead Australia since then.

Smith said he had no ambition to return as full-time captain at any stage.

“My time is done. It’s Pat’s team now,” Smith said after inflicting on India what was only their third defeat on home soil in their last 46 Tests dating back to 2012.

“I’ve obviously been able to stand in this week, obviously in tough circumstances with Patty going home. Our thoughts are still with him back home,” Smith said.

“But India is a part of the world I love captaining … it’s probably my favourite place in the world to captain.”

Smith marshalled his attack with aplomb, took a stunning catch at leg slip to remove Cheteshwar Pujara at a crucial juncture and overall looked in charge in the frenetic, low-scoring contest.

ROHIT WANTS INDIA TO BE ‘BRAVE’

Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sh­a­rma believes Indian batsmen needed to learn the lesson from their loss in Indore and be braver when they take on the Australian spinners in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad next week.

India were bundled out for 109 and 169 on a rank turner at Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium where 30 wickets fell in the first two days of the Test.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s 59 was the highest score by an Indian batter in the match and Austr­alia’s Nathan Lyon claimed 11 wickets, including 8-64 in India’s second innings.

“Look, when you’re playing on challenging pitches, you’ve got to be brave, honestly,” Rohit said after their nine-wicket defeat inside three days.

“I just felt we allowed their bowlers to bowl on one particular spot. Not taking any credit away from their bowlers, especially Nathan Lyon. He was brilliant, he kept challenging us, kept hitting that right length.

“When the bowler is doing that, you’ve got to come out with your plans and try and do different things; try and be a little brave as well, which I thought we were not.”