According to Vaughan, Cummins looked “short of a gallop” in the opening Test of the five-match series.
Australia lost the first Test by a big 295-run margin against India in Perth as the Indian team gained an early lead. Many factors resulted in such a heavy defeat, but former English captain Michael Vaughan has pointed out a distinct reason.
On The Follow On, he said the Australian captain wasn’t at his best in Perth with the ball, even though he is a brilliant performer. According to Vaughan, Cummins looked “short of a gallop” in the opening Test of the five-match series.
“He’s a world-class performer, a brilliant captain and a brilliant bowler. (But) the one thing I’ll say is he did look short of a gallop in the first Test. He’d not been playing any cricket. He had not played any longer format cricket since March. So I would think this week in Adelaide, he will be up on his pace because of what he did last week.”
Pat Cummins took two wickets for 67 runs in 15.4 overs in the first innings and a solitary wicket while conceding 86 runs in 25 overs in the next dig. Clearly, he could have done better as a bowler and made more inroads, especially in the second innings.
Pat Cummins might not have made a big impact in the first game, but he will pose a bigger threat in the Day-Night Test in Adelaide. The pink ball used for the Day-Night fixtures always moves more than the traditional red ball, and Cummins can exploit it.
He is known for his relentless accuracy and ability to target one area. Cummins has 34 wickets at an average of 18.35 and a strike rate of 40.58 in 14 innings, including one five-wicket and a ten-wicket haul, in Day-Night Tests.
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Further, he has 19 wickets at 23.84 runs apiece in ten Test innings in Adelaide. The numbers indicate a solid counterpunch from the Australian captain.
He might be a bit rusty in the first game due to not playing much red-ball cricket, but he can bounce back strongly. A lot depends on how he performs for Australia’s fortunes.
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