Australia captain Pat Cummins shared his fitness update and revealed that he will be back to practice in the next week. He expects to gain full fitness ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Australia captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 due to his left ankle injury. The 31-year-old last featured in the fifth Test against India in Sydney and since then, he has been out of action. Sharing an update on his fitness, the pacer revealed that his ankle is doing better but wasn’t fully fit to participate in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Sharing details of his injury, the cricketer revealed that there’s no clear timeline on when he will gain full fitness but taking a break helped him get better. Cummins mentioned starting his practice next week and expects to play the opening game of Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals on March 23. He also indicated that the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the Ashes, which will take place later in the year, might have prompted the cricketer to miss the Champions Trophy, in order to remain fit.
“The ankle is starting to come good. It’s a funny one – it’s not like a hamstring where you need six weeks (to recover). It’s one of those ones where it really just needs a bit (more) rest to settle down. So we just ran out of time for Pakistan. It’s just one of those ones you’ve got to manage. A bit of a break now, hopefully, it sets it up for the next year or so,” Cummins told cricket.com.au.
“Physically it’s quite a nice build-up for the World Test Championship final, and then the Test matches after that. That’s the aim at this stage – start bowling over the next week or so, building up, and should be right for IPL,” he added.
Australia will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against England on February 22 at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Apart from Cummins, Mithcell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green, and Mitchell Marsh will miss the tournament due to respective injuries. On the other hand, Marcus Stoinis announced retirement after initially being named in the 15-member squad.
