India v Australia: Pat Cummins won’t return for third Test, Steve Smith to captain

Pat Cummins’ decision to miss the third India test and stay in Australia due to his mother’s illness has been widely supported as his past tribute to her strength is revealed.

Pat Cummins has withdrawn from the third Test in India to stay home with his beloved mother, whose bravery against serious health issues has long left her son in awe.

Steve Smith will take over the Australian captaincy after Cummins announced on Friday night he would remain in Sydney to be by the side of his mother, Maria, who is extremely ill and in palliative care.

“I have decided against returning to India at this time as my mother is ill and in palliative care. I feel I am best being here with my family,” Cummins said.

“I appreciate the overwhelming support I have received from Cricket Australia and my teammates. Thanks for your understanding.”

Cummins and his tight-knit family are intensely private, but the Australian skipper spoke openly about his mother’s courage in fighting breast cancer in an article he penned for The Athletes Voice website back in 2018, and her emotion at watching him play on Jane McGrath Day at the SCG.

“Mum has always been an incredibly strong person. She has one of those just get on with it mentalities. But day three of the Sydney Test (in 2018) was a bit too much for her. It was all quite overwhelming,” Cummins wrote at the time.

“To see her son playing on a day dedicated to Jane McGrath, the McGrath Foundation and the fight against breast cancer made her pretty emotional.”

Pat Cummins speaks to Todd Murphy.

Cummins wrote five years’ ago about his mother’s incredible strength as she fought cancer while raising five children.

“My mum’s name is Maria and she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 when I was in year seven at school. She tried to shelter the kids — Matt, Laura, Tim, Kara and me — from much of what went on,” Cummins’ wrote.

“I remember her telling us, ‘I’m not going to be my normal self for the next little while,’ at the outset. And I remember all the family and friends stepping in and helping out with things like school pick-ups and making dinners. My dad, Peter, played the role of both parents there for a while.

Steve Smith will return as Australian captain.

“Mum went through all the chemo and radiation therapy. It lasted about six months. She’s one of the lucky ones. She came out the other side.

“But cancer has a tendency to hang over your head long after you’ve gone into remission. There are all the check-ups and the tests and that means the thought of it is always lurking somewhere.

“As a kid you think, ‘Mum said it’s going to be alright so it’s going to be alright.’ It’s not until you get a bit older when you think, ‘That was really serious.’”

The captain of the Australian side flew home after defeat in the second Test in Delhi “due to a serious family illness.”

Australia's captain Pat Cummins (R) speaks with Nathan Lyon.

He was expected to return after four days but selectors kept West Australian fast bowler Lance Morris on standby in case of this eventuality that Cummins would be forced to stay in Sydney.

Former captain Steve Smith will lead the side in the third Test in Indore on Wednesday.

Media have been asked to respect Cummins’s privacy in this difficult time.

Smith captained in Cummins’ absence in both Adelaide Tests in the past two seasons.

Australia is also without former vice-captain David Warner who was sent home after fracturing his elbow in the second Test loss and bowler Josh Hazlewood who did not recover from an achilles injury sustained before leaving Australia.

Mitchell Starc is expected to play his first Test of the series in Cummins’ place.