With just 2 days left for the the high-octane WTC final against India, Australia captain Pat Cummins has said that he doesn’t mind staying a bit undercooked.
Apart from players like Cameron Green and David Warner who played in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, and Marnus Labuschagne in County cricket, most of the Australian players have taken rest since the India series.
Commenting on the players’ taking break, Cummins said, as quoted by news agency PTI, “Breaks are rare to come by.”
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“I have always said, with six Test matches (including five in the Ashes), it is better to be slightly underdone than overdone. I am talking from a bower’s point of view. So I want to be physically fresh,” he said.
Brushing aside talks of rustiness during ICC’s ‘Afternoon with Test Legends’ event at the Oval, Cummins said, “Back home, we did lot of training. We have trained hard, rejuvenated and refreshed and are keen.”
The Australian skipper termed the Oval’s track as ‘good’ citing lots of bounce, expecting his team has enough bowlers to exploit the conditions.
“You need to know your moments to push for wickets. We need to get 20 wickets and there is no point trying everything in the first innings. We have plenty of bowlers to be used at different times,” Cummins said.
Looking at the record, Australia won only two Tests at the Oval in past 50 years and their overall win percentage is a mere 14 percent.
“Our playing group hasn’t played too many of those 50 Tests. We have played few Ashes games, most of us. Few guys have scored runs and bowlers have had some pace and bounce. So it should be good,” the skipper said.
On Indian side, Cummins said Indian team will not be an easy one to play. “I think at home we have been pretty formidable and only (beaten) by Rohit’s team (Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane’s team) in last couple of tours… we have been troubled. Everyone is hitting their grooves and some are at back (end) of (their) careers and at top of their games,” Cummins said.
With agency inputs.
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Updated: 05 Jun 2023, 05:24 PM IST
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