Who will step up when Cummins needs 'chop out'?

Australia has a team of leaders ready to step up should captain Pat Cummins miss a game during the ODI World Cup, says the side's most recent skipper Mitch Marsh.

Marsh is one potential replacement for Cummins if he sits out any of Australia's nine group-stage matches due to injury or workload management, with the West Australian having led his country in three T20s and five one-day internationals during the recent tour of South Africa.

The 31-year-old allrounder maintains it is "Patrick's team" but believes Australia have built a strong group of potential skippers over the past few years to help take the pressure off the Test and ODI leader.

No vice-captain has been appointed for the World Cup. Instead, a leadership group consisting of Cummins, Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Alex Carey and Steve Smith has been formed.  

Cummins has played just two one-day internationals since taking over the captaincy following the retirement of Aaron Finch last year and sat out Australia's five-match series in South Africa as he continued his recovery from a fractured wrist that he suffered in the final Ashes Test in July.

The 30-year-old is set to return to the field tonight (6pm AEST) in Australia's first ODI against India in Mohali and he's planning to play all three matches in the series, which serve as ideal preparation for next month's 50-over World Cup.

"Really impressed, as always, with how he is around the boys and out in the field, he looked nice and calm and measured," Cummins said of Marsh's leadership in South Africa where he watched from the sidelines having joined the squad for the ODI series.

"Hopefully I'll play every game this tour … I'm feeling pretty good, my wrist is all healed now.

"But if not, I reckon he'd be one that could step right in."

Former Australia captain and current Test vice-captain Smith is another who could fill in as skipper if required, with the star batter also set to return from his own wrist injury in tonight's first one-dayer.

Smith took over from Cummins for three ODIs in India in March, while Hazlewood and Carey both have experience leading the side in 50-over cricket.

"It'll be important that there's a group of us that can fill that void if needed," Marsh told the Unplayable Podcast.

"We've worked really hard over the last couple of years to have a bit of a leadership group where we're not always relying on Patty, and him being a fast bowler, it's near on impossible for him to play all three formats and play every game.

"It's really important that he has good people around him to help him out and give him a chop out at times.

"We've got a number of guys that can do the role; in South Africa it was my turn. We had a great tour, it would have been nice to finish off the one-day series with a win, but it wasn't to be. 

"But I thoroughly enjoyed it and took a lot of learnings from it from a leadership point of view."

Marsh, who played an important role with the ball after being recalled for the last three Ashes Tests, didn't bowl in South Africa due to a period of planned rest.

But he bowled off his full run at training at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday afternoon and said he would return to bowling towards the end of the three-match series and play as an allrounder throughout the World Cup.

"This (left) ankle, I've had five surgeries on it throughout my career so it's more just (head coach) Andrew McDonald wanting to look after it leading into what's going to be a big few months with the World Cup," he said.

"We're lucky that we've got three allrounders (him, Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green) that can hopefully share the load throughout.

"But really thankful that the medical staff, 'Ronnie' (McDonald) and Pat have given me that time to have a bit of a break from bowling and hopefully I can repay them with a few wickets throughout next few months."

Australia will play five more 50-over matches, including two warm-up games against the Netherlands and Pakistan, before getting their World Cup campaign underway against India in Chennai on October 8.

2023 Qantas Tour of India

September 22: First ODI, Mohali (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N), 6pm AEST

September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 6pm AEST

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad for first two ODIs: KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan , Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India squad for the third ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj