SL vs AUS: Cummins goes on leave, Marsh leaves clean… Steve Smith gets captaincy of Australia for Sri Lanka tour

Cricket News Desk. Steve Smith will captain Australia in the two-Test series on the Sri Lanka tour. Pat Cummins will not be a part of the team on this tour due to paternity leave and ankle injury. Cummins suffered an ankle injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. Josh Hazlewood is also out of the team due to injury, while all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has not got a place in the team. However, both players may return to the team for the Champions Trophy, which will begin immediately after the Sri Lanka tour.

Will take over the responsibility of Head Vice Captain.
Travis Head, who scored the most runs in the series against India, has been made the vice-captain. The team also includes Beau Webster, Sam Constas and Nathan McSweeney. Cricket Australia chairman of selection committee George Bailey said, “The Sri Lanka tour is challenging and exciting because of the variety of pitches available there.” This team has many options to choose the playing eleven according to different conditions.

Steve Smith is an experienced captain.
Steve Smith's record as captain is excellent. He took charge of the team for the first time in 2014. Under his captaincy, Australia won 21 out of 38 matches. The team lost only 10 matches and drew 7. In 2018, he was banned and removed from the captaincy due to his involvement in ball tampering. His captaincy was also banned for two years. He is the vice-captain of Australia in Tests from 2021.

No experience of spin except Leon
The conditions in Sri Lanka are favorable for spin bowlers. There is no experienced spinner in the Australian team except Nathan Lyon. Kuhneman has three Test match experience in India in 2023 while Murphy has six Test match experience. Left-arm spin all-rounder Cooper Connolly has been included in the team for the first time. Australia's tour of Sri Lanka will start from January 29. The first test will be played in Galle. The second test match will be played on the same ground from 6 February.

The Australian team is as follows: Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vice-captain), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstakk, Matt Kuhneman, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.