Pat Cummins named to captain Australia at Champions Trophy despite ankle injury

Despite being hampered by an ankle injury, Pat Cummins has been named captain of Australia's Champions Trophy squad. The star fast bowler will miss Australia's two-test series against Sri Lanka, primarily due to the birth of his second child, and also to rest after the intense Border-Gavaskar Trophy battle.

Cummins was named in Australia's 15-man preliminary squad for the tournament in Pakistan in February on Monday. "This is a balanced and experienced squad, with a core group that has played in the previous one-day World Cup, the West Indies series, last year's successful tour of England and the recent home series against Pakistan," said selection committee chair George Bailey. He added that the squad "provides tour management with a number of options depending on the opposition and the conditions we may encounter in Pakistan."

Star fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been named after missing three of the five Border-Gavaskar Tests through injury. Hazlewood will continue his recovery and miss the tests in Sri Lanka but will return for the country's one-off ODI after the red-ball series. Australia has not won the Champions Trophy since 2009, with India and Pakistan winning the two subsequent tournaments.

Mitch Marsh, recently dropped from the Test side but Australia's vice-captain in the one-day format, has been made captain of the T20 side. Australia's Champions Trophy squad includes: Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.