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AAP
AAP
Sport
Oliver Caffrey

Cummins stays home for ODIs in India, Smith to captain

Australian captain Pat Cummins will not return to India to skipper the team in the ODI series. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Pat Cummins will not return to India to captain Australia's ODI squad as he continues grieving the loss of his mother.

Just as he did in the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series, Steve Smith will skipper Australia in Cummins' absence.

Australia will leave Ahmedabad on Tuesday to prepare for the start of the three-match ODI series in Mumbai on Friday.

Cummins flew back to Australia immediately after the team's second Test defeat in Delhi last month to be around his family.

The 29-year-old's mother, Maria, died in Sydney, ahead of the second day of the fourth Test last Friday, three weeks after Cummins returned from India.

"Pat won't be coming back, he's still taking care of what's happened back home," Australia coach Andrew McDonald said.

"Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process."

Australia have opted not to replace Cummins, going with a 15-man ODI squad instead of 16.

Luckless fast bowler Jyhe Richardson was last week ruled out of the series, with Tasmania's Nathan Ellis called in to take his place.

After starting off in the Test squad, veteran opener David Warner and allrounder Ashton Agar went home midway through the series.

However, they are returning for the short, but important series ahead of this year's World Cup in India in October.

Six players, including Smith, from the Test squad will stay on for the 50-over matches after the Border-Gavaskar series ended with a dull draw in Ahmedabad on Monday.

India won a Test series against Australia 2-1 for the fourth-straight time after coming out on top in the first two matches in Nagpur and Delhi.

The hosts smashed Australia in the first Test, but the tourists were left to rue their "hour of madness" in the Indian capital.

Australia were in a winning position to level the series 1-1, but suffered a horrific collapse of 8-28 amid a flurry of sweeps to hand India an unassailable 2-0 lead.

"It's a proud group and they'll see it as a missed opportunity," McDonald said.

"Not many teams come here (to India) and get the opportunity like what was presented in Delhi; if it had been 1-1 there who knows how the series goes so there's a lot of what-ifs around that."

But Australia were able to bounce back from the Delhi debacle with a famous nine-wicket triumph in Indore - just their second Test victory in India since 2004.

India's curators changed tack for the final Test, preparing a flat pitch in Ahmedabad after the series started with three raging turners to suit the hosts' star spinners.

AUSTRALIA'S ODI SQUAD: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

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