Pat Cummins out of IPL with back injury

Pat Cummins, the Australian paceman, has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a back injury. In a blow for the Mumbai Indians, the 24-year-old will miss the tournament after a heavy workload during the past year, where he played 13 consecutive Tests. Cummins is the third casualty from the gruelling Test series in South Africa with fellow quicks Mitchell Starc and Kagiso Rabada already ruled out of the IPL. Apart from the three pacers, South African skipper Faf du Plessis is also recovering from a finger injury and a side strain and is set to miss Chennai Super Kings' second game of the tournament after sitting out against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. David Beakley, Australia's physiotherapist, said Cummins experienced back issues in South Africa last week and could miss out on Australia's next assignment - a limited-overs series against England in June. "Pat experienced some back soreness during the fourth Test in South Africa," he said in a statement on Tuesday (April 10). "Follow-up scans have confirmed that he has bone oedema in his vertebrae. It is important that Pat has time off bowling, to prevent the injury becoming more serious and consequently we have made the decision to rule Pat out of the IPL. "Pat will now undergo a period of recovery and rehabilitation and we will look to re-scan him in a few weeks to assess the healing," he added. "Following this we will be in a better position to decide on Pat's return to play timeline including participation in the limited overs tour of the UK."