Australia captain Pat Cummins may miss the ICC Champions Trophy due to an ankle issue. Cummins played all five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but was on paternity leave for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Australia's chief selector George Bailey confirmed that Cummins will undergo a scan on his ankle, which could determine his availability. "Pat's obviously on paternity leave for the next little bit," Bailey said, as quoted by nine.com.au. "He's got a little bit of a sore ankle as well, so I think in the next week or so he's got a scan coming, and we'll get a bit more information around where that's at."
Bailey did not commit to Cummins' participation in the Champions Trophy, saying they would wait for the scan results before making a decision.
Another concern for Australia is fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who missed the final two Tests against India due to injury. Bailey expressed optimism about Hazlewood’s recovery. "He's working really hard, and all the news on how he's responding to the calf injury is coming along really well," Bailey said.
Hazlewood was left out of the squad for Sri Lanka, but Bailey remains hopeful. "It just worked out that unfortunately, he didn’t quite get there in time, but we're really confident he should be fit and ready to go for the Champions Trophy," Bailey added.
