The series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 224-25 will be a rare chance of both teams being led by their pace spearheads as Jasprit Bumrah gears up for his second game as stand-in captain in Tests. Pat Cummins, his Australian counterpart, said he’s eager to see how Bumrah goes about his work in the longest format with the added responsibility as the two teams prepare to clash in the much-awaited first of the five Tests, at Perth from Friday (November 22).
“Great to see, [this] should happen more,” Cummins said. “‘The New Zealand series last year was good with Timmy Southee as captain as well. I don’t think it really changes too much again, but it’s one of those rare things. Looking forward to seeing, hopefully from the changeroom, how he goes about his work out there. But as a fan of fast bowling, it’s always good to see.”
While ace spinner R Ashwin is set to play his first Test in Perth, India will be missing the services of their regular skipper Rohit Sharma who is back home after the birth of his second child. Cummins, however, said the Australians’ IPL stints have given them a good enough peek into the depth of India’s talent pool.
“You always make plans for the whole squad. I think with most teams, especially India, you know (they) have got a lot of depth. Most of us have played IPL and seen how many newcomers come in and step up straightaway. They’re missing a couple of guys we’re more familiar with but we know whoever they pick they obviously think is good enough for Test cricket. We’ve done a bit of prep.”
Cummins, who led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL 2024 final, himself spent two months sharing the dressing room alongside one of India’s potential debutants at Perth – pace-bowling allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
“Reddy is a great young kid,” Cummins said. “[I] loved playing alongside Nitish for Sunrisers. [He’s] a great young guy starting out his professional career this season. Really impressed [with] how he went about his work last year. He didn’t bowl as much as he potentially could have, but really impressed with what we saw. Looks like he can swing the ball a little bit.”
Australia are currently atop the World Test Championship standings with eight wins in 12 games and a PCT of 62.5 as opposed to India, who are placed second but coming into the series on the back of a 0-3 whitewash at home at the hands of New Zealand.
Cummins noted that the benefit of playing with a consistently same squad is that the players are well aware of their roles. “It’s weird, it’s basically been the same side for the last two or three years. So the week leading in is very normal, it’s all very relaxed. Everyone knows how they need to prepare. It’s pretty seamless, all the meetings, training, all those kind of things we’ve done heaps before with the same people. It’s just about reaffirming what we do really well, that’s been one of the strengths of our team, is not only the consistency, but how well everyone gets on, and how much we love playing together.”
A settled squad also means a lot of experienced but aging stars. Cummins however noted that the experience of his ‘older squad’ would be invaluable in a high-stakes series like this one.
“I think, if you’re early on in your career, there’s pressure on to assert yourself and earn your spot in the side. Once you’re in the side, there’s always that pressure to hold on to it or take your game to the next level. It’s a Test match, there’s millions of people watching – there’s always pressure. We always talk about trying to find when you are at your best and trying to place yourself as closely to that as possible. That’s what experience brings.”