Published: Mar 14, 2019, 12:13 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 14, 2019, 12:13 PM (IST)
Australia pacer Pat Cummins played a starring role in his team’s stunning comeback against India that culminated in a historic series win on Wednesday night.
Cummins finished with 14 wickets, the most in the series, at an average of 15.71 that included a five-wicket haul in Mohali. The 25-year-old has now zoomed ahead of the likes of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to spearhead Australia’s attack at the ICC World Cup 2019 where they will aim to defend their title.
However, before arriving in India, Cummins wasn’t confidence of his one-day form but is glad that it shaped up well and hopes to continue delivering the goods for Australia at the World Cup as well.
“I’ve played a little bit of one-day cricket before but it felt like I hadn’t really clicked in this format. It felt like I bowled well in the Australian summer, so glad it keeps on clicking. Hopefully it continues for the World Cup,” Cummins was quoted as saying by AAP after Australia beat India by 35 runs in the fifth and final ODI to win the series 3-2.
The win has come at just the right time for Australia who have been struggling in the format for some time now, especially in the absence of their two premier batsmen Steven Smith and David Warner. The performance, though, gives the national selectors headache as to who makes the way when the pair would have served their ball-tampering bans.
“I wouldn’t want to be a selector. It’s going to be a tough job, whittling it down to 15,” Cummins said. “There’s obviously a few guys to come back as well. The batsmen, the way they played the spinners and the quicks in India – it was incredible. To get those kind of scores on these kind of wickets, they made it look a lot easier to bat on than it was.”
