Adelaide, Dec 5: He has won the ODI World Cup, the Ashes and also the Test Championship mace but the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India remains the “one last” unchecked item in the bucket list of Australia skipper Pat Cummins, who is confident of pulling it off this time despite the opening Test debacle.
Cummins, who made his Test debut in 2011, played a Test against India for the first time in 2017. Since 2014-15, Australia have not won an India series either at home or away. The pacer is determined to change this stat despite the 295-run drubbing in the Perth game last month.
“For half of the (Australian) change room, we haven’t won the Border Gavaskar Trophy. It is one last thing to tick off for a lot of us. Almost every challenge that we faced in last few years, we have stepped up and done well,” Cummins spoke with a lot of determination on the eve of the second Test against India in Adelaide.
“I think we need to do that for another home summer and series. From two-three season thing, it has suddenly been a half a generation thing,” he added.
Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood (not playing this Test), Mitchell Marsh, and Nathan Lyon are some of the players, who were part of the 2-0 win back in 2014-15.From that point onwards, India have won all four series — two at home (2017 and 2023) and two overseas (2018-19, 2020-21).
So, is there pressure on him to win it back this time? “I don’t think it’s pressure. You are playing at home and you want to do well. We know they (India) are a really strong side and lot of us were part of those recent three series (defeats).
“Yeah, it’s a big series and kind of not looking too far in the past. And every summer, when we play against them we want to do well,” Cummins said.
The 31-year-old, who has 272 wickets from 63 Tests, didn’t want to compare the Ashes with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) but termed the battle with Indian teams as the most closely contested over the years.
“I think it has been the most closely fought. I think the Ashes has got a rich history and (it is) watched as well but I think Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been a very tight series that I have kind of seen in recent times.“Both teams play quite similar at times. For the first time (since 1991-92), it is a five-Test series and that adds a bit extra. It really gets attritional with its history as well so it is a big one,” the skipper said.
All praise for Nitish Reddy
With Rishabh Pant coming in at number five and one among Shubman Gill or Rohit Sharma at number six followed by Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy, India’s top-order does have a scary look. But Cummins backed his bowlers.
“Pretty scary five, six and seven I think. If they come in and bowlers have already had plenty of overs into them, then they are a scary proposition.
“Just like we have seen, when we have been two, three or four down, then (Mitchell) Marshy or (Travis) Heady have put out a 100. That changes dynamics pretty quickly,” Cummins said.
Having captained Reddy in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Cummins is pretty impressed with the Andhra all-rounder’s seam-up bowling.
“He didn’t bowl as much as he potentially could have but really impressed with what we saw and looks like he can swing the ball a little bit. Great young kid.”
Boland only change and Marsh fit to play
Cummins confirmed that pacer Scott Boland will replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the playing eleven for the Adelaide game. Also, Mitchell Marsh has been declared fit to bowl.
“As a captain, it’s pretty awesome for someone like Scotty to come in. You know he can bowl a huge amount of overs if you need. He’s super consistent, he’s performed at this level, so he’s ready to go.” Cummins said that Marsh will bowl as he has been in good shape.
“Mitchell Marsh will definitely bowl in this Test. I would imagine a few spells but he is ready to go. He (Marsh) is bowling well this week. His body is great and this has been for a while. So, he is ready to go out there and happy to bowl,” he added.
