After the Delhi Test defeat against India, Australia skipper Pat Cummins departed for home due to a “serious family illness”, Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement.
“Pat Cummins has flown home for personal reasons due to a serious family illness,” read the statement.
“He will return to India later this week to rejoin preparations for the third Test in Indore. We ask media to respect his privacy,” it added.
Cummins will travel to Sydney for a couple of days before flying back to India ahead of the third Test, slated to be held in Indore from March 1.
Australia succumbed to a six-wicket defeat at the hands of India in the second Test in Delhi on Sunday (February 19).
At the close of play on Day 2, the visitors were in the driver’s seat with a second-innings score of 61/1 and an overall lead of 62 runs. However, Ravindra Jadeja (7/42) spun a web around Australia with the ball in the first session on the third day to bundle out the tourists for a paltry 113.
The hosts then chased down the 115-run target to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series and retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy for fourth straight time.
After the game, Cummins admitted that some of his teammates “went out of their methods,” as they kept getting out to sweep and reverse sweep.
“I thought they (India) bowled really well. It’s not easy out there, but perhaps some guys went away from their methods,” Cummins said in the post-match press conference.
Just like the Nagpur Test where Australia lost all 10 wickets in a session, they lost nine in just about 90 odd minutes in the morning session on Day 3 in Delhi.
“It's disappointing, this game was a similar story to Nagpur second innings. Felt like we were in a really good position for most of it, probably a few runs short in the end.
“In Nagpur maybe we underplayed. We probably overplayed it here at times in the second innings. You have got to find a way to try and put pressure back on the bowlers.
“They are really, really good bowlers, especially in these conditions,” Cummins stated.
