Australia pacer Pat Cummins believes that the presence of David Warner and Steve Smith in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy series will help the hosts. Steve Smith and Warner didn’t appear in the last Test series against India as they were serving two-year bans for the ball-tampering incident.
Virat Kohli led Team India made history by winning their first Test series on Australian soil in the 2018-19 rubber.
Talking to kkr.in on Tuesday, Pat Cummins admitted that Virat Kohli’s men outplayed them in the previous edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, this time, the Aussies have more firepower in their batting lineup in the form of Steve Smith, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head.
“India had a better side than us a couple of years ago when they came here. They played really good cricket, and even though we shared patches I think overall, we were outplayed by them in that series,” Pat Cummins said.
“David and Smith coming back into the side, they are two of the best batters in the world, so of course it helps. We’ve also got a couple of younger guys who have now become really mature players like Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, etc. so that’s a big help,” Pat Cummins added.
It’s a Tactic That The Captains Have To Manage – When to Bat And When To Bowl: Pat Cummins On Pink-Ball Test
Pat Cummins has a lot of experience playing Tests under the lights. Sharing his views on the upcoming pink-ball Test match, the New South Wales fast bowler said,
“You can have some periods in a Test match a bit like a one-dayer, where the ball doesn’t swing, doesn’t seam and all of a sudden out of nowhere, it starts zipping around under the lights. It’s just another dynamic of the game. It’s a tactic that the captains have to manage – when to bat and when to bowl.”
Cummins admitted that India has a disciplined bowling attack but backed his batsmen to come good against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.
“I think the last time Mohammad Shami, Bumrah, and Ishant really bowled well together disciplined. Bumrah and Shami can bowl at 140km/h. It’s gonna be a lot of hard work but our batters have shown that they can bat for long hours in the last couple of years,” Cummins said.