CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH - SEPTEMBER 05: Pat Cummins of Australia prepares to bowl during day two of the Second Test match between Bangladesh and Australia at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on September 5, 2017 in Chittagong, Bangladesh. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Australian Test captain Pat Cummins will return to Australia midway through the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series to attend to a family matter.

Australia have ten days between Tests after the early loss in Delhi, which followed a similar early loss in Nagpur.

The third Test doesn't start until March 1 in Indore, and News Corp are reporting that Cummins will be back in India by the start of the third Test, only to return home briefly for a few days.

Cummins is the second player to leave India, with Mitch Swepson leaving after the first Test for the birth of his first child.

Australia have lost the first two Tests against India inside of a combined six days of cricket, with the second innings in Delhi seeing the tourists lose nine wickets in just over an hour and a half.

It means the chances of Australia reclaiming the trophy have sailed, with India only needing a drawn scoreline in the four-match series to retain the trophy, having won it last time when the series was hosted in Australia.

The lost series means Australia won't have held the Border-Gavaskar series aloft since 2014-15, with India winning each of the last three series 2-1.

Australia do not play India again until the 2024-25 summer, meaning it will be at least a decade between holding the trophy.

But Australia can still snatch a drawn series over the last two Tests, although they have been comprehensively outplayed by the home side thus far.

They will also have one eye on the World Test Championship final, with a draw in one of the remaining two Tests needed to secure qualification - without it, they are relying on Sri Lanka failing to beat New Zealand 2-0 when the sides meet next month across the Tasman.

That series sees New Zealand go in as raging favourites on pitches which will suit them compared to the low and slow sub-continent decks Sri Lanka are used to.

The thus far disastrous tour of India is Australia's first major blemish during this World Test Championship cycle, which began in 2021.