Captain Pat Cummins has flown back to Sydney due to a serious family illness after Australia’s second Test capitulation in Delhi.
Cummins is expected to return to India later in the week as a demoralised Australia try to regroup for the third Test in Indore, starting on March 1.
Although the fast bowler is not expected to miss a Test, vice-captain Steve Smith could lead the team instead of Cummins if required.
Smith last filled in for Cummins during the Adelaide day-night Test against West Indies in December.
Cummins was Australia’s only recognised fast bowler in Delhi after the tourists elected to give Matt Kuhnemann a debut to play as a third spinner alongside Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy.
Fellow star quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been recovering from injuries and are a yet to play this series.
Scott Boland featured alongside Cummins in the series opener in Nagpur, but the popular Victorian was dropped for Kuhnemann.
Important allrounder Cameron Green will almost certainly return for the third Test after recovering from a broken finger suffered against South Africa in December.
Green will slot straight back in at No.6, almost certainly in place of an out-of-sorts Matt Renshaw, to give Australia another genuine pace option.
Earlier, Cummins admitted Australia went “too high tempo” as they lost the second Test in Delhi inside three days.
Australia’s hopes of winning a Test series in India for the first time in 19 years were ended in less than six days of cricket, crushed twice by a ruthless Indian spin attack.
While they were never in the contest in the opening Test in Nagpur, at Arjun Jaitley Stadium the tourists began day three with the advantage but were demoralised by tea.
Australia’s collapse of 9-48 was their third-worst in the third innings of a Test, behind the infamous Cape Town debacle of 2011 (9-36) and a match against the World XI in 2005 (9-47) when the country’s golden generation were already in a winning position.
Cummins’ team had plans to attack Ravi Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin but they came unstuck in nightmarish fashion as multiple batters fell victim to the sweep shot.
Jadeja could only laugh when asked post-game if it was a good idea to try to sweep his bowling.
“I’m probably as much to blame as anyone else there,” Cummins said.
“Two big things we talk about is the tempo of the game and the method.
“Maybe at times a little bit too high tempo.
“I’d rather be high tempo than low tempo though, if those wickets are being difficult, but maybe the method went a little bit away from what we planned to do at times.”
Australia dominated periods of the Test and appeared to have a serious chance of handing India their first loss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium since 1987.
They managed 263 in their first innings, which looked solid when India collapsed to 7-139 in response. But bowling allrounders Axar Patel and Ashwin saved their side with a 114-run eighth-wicket stand to leave Australia with just a one-run lead.
“Looking back on it, 300 would have been fantastic,” Cummins said.
“260 was OK, but if we really want to drive home the advantage we were a few short.”
