Australia captain Pat Cummins is targeting the IPL to make his return from a niggling injury that sidelined him from the Champions Trophy.

The 31-year-old quick has been struggling with a long-standing left ankle issue that flared during the Test series win over India in December-January.

He missed the dominant two-Test victory in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, where a Steve Smith-led Australia open their account against England on Saturday.

Cummins told cricket.com.au he aimed to honour his contract with the Sunrisers Hyderabad when the IPL starts on 22 March.

“The ankle is starting to come good,” he said. “It’s a funny one – it’s not like a hamstring where you need six weeks [to recover]. It’s one of those ones where it really just needs a bit [more] rest to settle down. So we just ran out of time for Pakistan.”

Cummins said the injury was not new or an issue that would affect him long term.

“It’s just one of those ones you’ve got to manage. A bit of a break now, hopefully it sets it up for the next year or so.”

Following the IPL, Australia play the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s on 11 June before a three-Test tour of the West Indies that runs into July.

Cummins said the intensity of the IPL would be adequate preparation to resume red-ball cricket.

“Physically it’s quite a nice build-up for the World Test Championship final, and then the Test matches after that,” he said. “That’s the aim at this stage – start bowling over the next week or so, building up, and should be right for IPL.”

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Australia captain Pat Cummins is set to miss the Champions Trophy because of injury while fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood is also a doubt.

Cummins skipped the ongoing Test tour of Sri Lanka for the birth of his second child but also has an ankle problem.

The Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the UAE begins on 19 February.

“Patty is hugely unlikely, which is a bit of shame, and we’ve also got Josh Hazlewood, who is battling at the moment,” coach Andrew McDonald told radio station SEN. “So that medical information will land over the next couple of days and we’ll be able to shore that up and let everyone know the direction.”

Cummins’ absence will leave the Australians searching for a captain for the ODI tournament.

Vice-captain Mitchell Marsh, who captains Australia in T2oIs, had already been ruled out of the eight-nation tournament because of a back injury.

Steve Smith has captained the Test side in Sri Lanka.

“Pat Cummins hasn’t been able to resume any type of bowling so he’s heavily unlikely, so that would mean that we do need a captain,” McDonald said.

“Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we’ve been having conversations with while we’ve been building out that Champions Trophy team along with Pat back home. They’ll be the two that we look at for that leadership post.”

Hazlewood was restricted to just two Tests against India in the recent series because of calf and side strains.

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Pat Cummins says he rates the fourth Test victory over India by 184 runs as “right at the top” of the greatest games he has played in for Australia.

A rollicking match at the MCG was won late on day five when the home side blasted out seven Indian wickets in the final session.

Cummins was named Man of the Match for his all-round deeds, including taking three key wickets on the final day as the tourists were skittled for 155.

He did it in front of a final-day crowd of nearly 75,000, pushing the combined attendance across five days to 373,691, easily the highest for any match played in Australia.

The 66-Test veteran said he agreed with several teammates that the Test was among the best they’d played in.

“I just felt everyone was talking, trying to work out where it sits. I reckon that it’s right at the top,” Cummins said. “When you take it all into account, it’s probably the best Test match I’ve been involved in.

“I don’t know what the crowd was today, but it was huge,” he added. “It felt like the match swung a lot as well. It never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that a win looked certain.

“So overall, just one of those great wins.”

While Australia’s attack was devastating late on day five, Cummins believed victory was set up in the morning when key trio Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were dismissed cheaply.

“I reckon that first session today was close to perfection from a bowling point of view,” he said.

Australia can reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy if they win or draw the fifth and final Test starting in Sydney on Friday.

Cummins expected Mitchell Starc to be fit to play, even though the pace bowler was wincing throughout the second innings, favouring what is believed to be a rib complaint.

“We’ll reassess in a couple of days but he’s a warrior, he gets through,” Cummins said. “He never even contemplates not being an option to bowl.

“So yeah, other than being in pain, he’s fully fit and available.”

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