KOLKATA: Pat Cummins is unsure whether he will continue as Australia’s ODI captain after the World Cup but is looking to return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) next season in preparation for the Twenty20 showpiece.

Test skipper Cummins, who will lead Australia into their semi-final against South Africa on Thursday, took on the ODI role with an eye firmly on the World Cup when Aaron Finch retired from the format last year.

The paceman said he was “potentially” interested in staying on after the tournament but that the decision would rest with coach Andrew McDonald and head selector George Bailey’s assessment of his workload and Australia’s priorities.

“We’ve been pretty open, me and Andrew and George around different times in the year you’re going to have different priorities,” Cummins told reporters in Kolkata.

“After here, the focus shifts back to test cricket for a fair while. Probably like we’ve done in the past, at times white-ball cricket is going to have to shift so we fully focus on test cricket. So yeah, there’s no end date in sight.”

The captaincy of the T20 side was vacated when Finch retired from all international cricket in February but Mitch Marsh is favourite to claim that role ahead of the World Cup in the Caribbean and US next June.

Cummins is keen to play a full part in the IPL and signalled a return to the league next year after skipping it this year because of his busy schedule.

“I’m really excited, I’m probably going to go into the IPL auction for next year to try to get some games before that World Cup and push a case to not only make the side but get back to how I feel like I can bowl in T20 cricket.”

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2023