ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Massive blow for Australia! Pat Cummins and star pacer ruled out of the tournament

Australia has suffered a massive blow ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. As per the reports in ESPNCricinfo, it is learned that captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are all set to be ruled out of the tournament, which will begin on 19th February. 

Pat Cummins suffered an ankle injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and missed the ongoing Test tour to injury due to the same and also the birth of his second child. The fast bowler since then has been out of action and hasn't resumed any kind of bowling. 

Pat Cummins hasn't gained his full fitness and it is highly likely that he will be missing the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This will be a massive blow as not only will they miss the quality bowler but also the captain, who took them to win the ICC World Cup 2023. 

In the absence of Pat Cummins, Australia is likely to give the leadership role to either Travis Head or Steve Smith. The latter has been leading the team in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka, and under his leadership, Australia won the first game of the series by a massive margin. 

The development was confirmed by Australia head coach Andrew McDonald, saying that Pat Cummins is highly likely to be unavailable. He also talked about giving leadership roles to Steve Smith and Travis Head. Speaking to SEN, he said:

"Pat Cummins hasn't been able to resume any type of bowling so he's heavily unlikely, so that would mean that we do need a captain. Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we've been having conversations with while we've been building out that Champions Trophy team along with Pat back home. They'll be the two that we look at for that leadership post." 

Josh Hazlewood is expected to be ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Apart from Pat Cummins, star pacer Josh Hazlewood also is expected to be ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The fast bowler is battling with a hip issue, which he faced in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He, too, hasn't bowled since then and is against time to recover. 

His absence could be a big blow as well as he has been one of the consistent players for the team. Pat Cummins, along with Hazlewood, are now among the three Australia players to be ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Earlier, Mitchell Marsh was ruled out of the tournament.

Also Read: Shock to Team India before Champions Trophy, Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of entire England ODI Series