Steve Smith marks return to Test captaincy as Pat Cummins hands over leadership duties

Australia captain Pat Cummins is set to miss the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka due to his family commitments. With Cummins absent for the series, vice-captain Steve Smith is likely to take over the captaincy duties for the tour.

Cummins' absence was earlier confirmed by Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald before the beginning of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Currently, Cummins is leading Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy where Steve Smith is the vice-captain.

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Steve Smith to return as Test captain

According to Code Sports, Steve Smith is all set to lead Australia in the all-important Test series in Sri Lanka. Pat Cummins and his wife Becky Boston are expecting their second child which makes the former unavailable for the series.

🚨 CAPTAIN STEVE SMITH 🚨

- Steven Smith is likely to Captain Australia in the Test series against Sri Lanka. [CODE Sports] pic.twitter.com/Qa0BuHpos9

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 2, 2025

Smith is not new to captaincy but will be leading the team after a long time. His last Test as a captain was in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 against India in Ahmedabad. Smith led Australia in two Tests of the series in Cummins' absence. Australia went on to win one Test under his leadership in Ranchi.

Steve Smith was Australia's captain prior to Pat Cummins as well. However, he was sacked from the role after the famous Sandpaper incident in 2018 during Australia's tour of South Africa. Overall, he has a good record as a Test captain having led Australia to 21 wins in 38 matches with a win percentage of 67.74.

Pat Cummins' absence to affect Australia

Meanwhile, Australia will miss the services of Pat Cummins, who has been an integral part of the team for the last few years. Cummins is one of the senior players of the side and has been a world-class performer for Australis, especially in Test Cricket.

Currently, he is the second-highest wicket-taker of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 with 20 wickets in four Tests at an average of 22.65. He is just behind Jasprit Bumrah in the list who has been outstanding with the ball as well.

Pat Cummins has a fantastic record as a Test captain having led Australia to 19 wins in 32 Tests with a win percentage of 73.07%. Under the leadership of Pat Cummins, Australia lifted the World Test Championship title in 2023.

Important series for Australia

Australia's tour of Sri Lanka will begin from January 29 at Galle. The tour will comprise two Tests and both matches will be played at Galle. The series is the last series for both teams to stake a claim in the WTC Final, to be played in June 2025.

If Australia is unable to win the fifth Test against India in Sydney, they will need to win at least one Test against Sri Lanka to qualify for the World Test Championship final. Australia are also the defending WTC champions.