Pat Cummins excited about India challenge

Tags: Australia tour of India,2017, India Vs Australia 3rd Test at Ranchi, Mar 16-20, 2017, Australia, India, Patrick James Cummins, Test match

Published on: Mar 14, 2017

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has been called up as a replacement for the, injured Mitchell Starc. Cummins made an impressive Test debut in 2011, but has not played another Test since his match-winning entry on the big stage

Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has been called up as a replacement for the, injured Mitchell Starc. Cummins made an impressive Test debut in 2011, but has not played another Test since his match-winning entry on the big stage against South Africa.

On the challenge of playing in India, Starc was quoted as saying in a report by Cricbuzz, "I knew I was on standby for the tour a couple of months ago but really I thought the bowlers weren't going to bowl too many overs so hoped they weren't going to be injured or anything like that. So yeah, I hadn't really thought about coming over at all.

The New South Wales bowler admits that his return to Test cricket after so long feels like a second debut. "To be honest, it's not very fresh. It feels like so much has happened in those five or six years. But I think since that day this is easily the most prepared I have been for a Test match in terms of body, form and the length that I have been playing the last few months. So, in some ways it feels like my first game. But being part of the Aussie squad with ODIs and T20s, it is a pretty familiar surrounding," he adds.

Geoff Lawson, NSW's bowling coach has expressed that since Cummins has only played only one first-class game, playing in India might not be the right idea. "I was probably going to play the last game for NSW and hopefully the final which would have entailed a lot of overs," Cummins adds.

"It's no different, being over here or playing the Shield game. Having the last six months I've had, I am really comfortable. I felt like I tried to bowl with a bit more rhythm in the Shield game than potentially what I have done in an ODI or something, where I run in and try to bowl as fast as I can every ball. So, I felt like I could bowl six or seven overs in a spell pretty easily and the pace felt like it was coming out pretty good," he goes on to say.

Cummins is also excited about the Indian challenge as a victory at Ranchi would see them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. "Being at home for the first two Tests, I really appreciated how much passion is in this tour and how much Test cricket means. A big Indian tour like this can really identify a team and Steve Smith's captaincy. I've just been pumped watching it at home and to be over and potentially being part of the series is really cool," the pacer goes on to say.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

Related News