India vs Australia: Steve Smith to lead in ODIs as Pat Cummins remains at home

Steve Smith will captain Australia in their upcoming three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against India.

Australia captain Pat Cummins missed the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be with his mother, who was on palliative care. His mother died from breast cancer last week while the final match in Ahmedabad was being played. It was confirmed on Tuesday that the pacer would not be re-joining the national side for the ODI series that is due to begin later this week.

"Pat won't be coming back, he's still taking care of what's happened back home. Our thoughts are with Pat and his family as they go through that grieving process," Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said.

Smith, who captained Australia in the last two Tests in Cummins' absence, will continue to lead the side in the white-ball games as well. Under Smith's captaincy, Australia won the third Test, while drew the final one in Ahmedabad that saw India clinch the series 2-1.

Cummins was named Australia's ODI captain after Aaron Finch's retirement last year but has so far led in just two games so far, both coming in an ordinary campaign at home in November against a demotivated England side that had just won the T20 World Cup.

The upcoming three-match ODI series, which is scheduled to begin in Mumbai on Friday, is going to be a significant one as it is being hosted by the same country hosting the ODI World Cup later this year.

Head coach McDonald also confirmed that opening batsman David Warner, who has not been among the 50-over squad members training in Ahmedabad in recent days, was due to return after missing the third and the fourth Test due to a fractured elbow.

While Cummins' replacement was not named in Australia's 15-man squad, Nathan Ellis was recently recalled after Jhye Richardson was ruled out after having been forced to undergo hamstring surgery.

In the fast bowling department, Josh Hazlewood, who led Australia's ODI side during that England series when Cummins missed a game, continues to be away with an ongoing Achilles injury.

Meanwhile, spinner Ashton Agar returned after being sent away mid way into the Test series and will resume his spin partnership with Adam Zampa.

The series is also set to see the returns of Glenn Maxwell (broken leg) and Mitchell Marsh (ankle surgery) from serious injuries.

McDonald also suggested the team was considering how many allrounders can fit into their one-day team, which also includes Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis,

"We've got a couple of conversations around the balance of the team we want to play, we've gone in with a structure with eight batters to bat a little bit deeper, we've tried that. So there'll be a mix of combinations as we lead into the World Cup.

"(There is) a lot of allrounders picked in the squad and can they all play in the one team. So we've got to answer a few of those questions," the Aussie coach added.

India vs Australia ODI series: Squads

Australia: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkatt