On Friday, Cricket Australia announced the untimely death of Maria Cummins, Pat Cummins' mother. During the second Test of the series, Cummins abandoned the continuing Border-Gavaskar Trophy to care for his ailing mother, who was receiving palliative care at the time. Following the passing of Cummins' mother, the Australian team took the field wearing black armbands. Breast cancer caused her death.
Cricket Australia took to Twitter to share, "We are deeply saddened at the passing of Maria Cummins overnight. On behalf of Australian Cricket, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Pat, the Cummins family and their friends. The Australian Men's team will today wear black armbands as a mark of respect."
Before the game on Friday morning in Ahmedabad, Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald spoke with the team to let them know Maria Cummins had passed away. Steve Smith led Australia in the final two Tests against India after Cummins was benched.
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Last month, Peter Handscomb has remarked about Pat, saying, "To be able to put that to one side while he's out captaining his country and trying to win Test matches is a pretty incredible effort."
Australia has already qualified for the World Test Championship final with a win in Indore last week, and will be playing for another win at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The fourth and final Test of the series started on Thursday in Ahmedabad.
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