Australia’s preparations for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 have been with dealt a major setback, with captain Pat Cummins likely to miss the mega tournament.
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Head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Cummins is “heavily unlikely” to participate in the marquee event, which starts on February 19.
The injury has opened up a leadership vacuum, with Steve Smith and Travis Head emerging as potential candidates to lead the team. Cummins has been struggling with the ankle issue, which also forced him to skip Australia’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka.
Adding to Australia’s woes, fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is also battling a fresh injury, while star allrounder Mitchell Marsh has already been ruled out due to a back issue.
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“Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s Champion’s Trophy [2025] with ongoing lower back pain and dysfunction,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.
“The National Selection Panel and Australian men’s medical team ruled Marsh out of the tournament with the injury which has not responded sufficiently to rehabilitation,” it added.
Australia will face England, South Africa, and Afghanistan in Group B of the tournament, starting their campaign on February 22.
Australia preliminary squad for Champions Trophy 2025:
Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa.
Champions Trophy 2025
The eight-time tournament will be played at the three venues of Pakistan – Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore, while Dubai International Cricket Stadium will host India’s games including the hotly-anticipated PAK vs IND group stage game.
All three venues in Pakistan will host three group matches each, while Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium will also host a semi-final.
Pakistan are the defending champions in the upcoming edition after beating India in the final of the 2017 edition at the Oval under the captaincy of wicketkeeping batter Sarfaraz Ahmed.
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