‘Better underdoing than overdoing’: Pat Cummins on lack of playing time ahead of WTC Finals

Australia captain Pat Cummins doesn’t mind being a little undercooked ahead of the high-octane WTC final against India, rather than playing two months of T20 cricket and landing exhausted for a grueling English summer. Asked if most of the Australian team (with the exception of Cameron Green, David Warner in IPL and Marnus Labouchagn in county cricket) would be a bit rusty by playing little to no after the series in India, the skipper on Sunday asked to disagree. “The breaks are rare,” said the modern-day great, who has 217 Test wickets in 49 games.

“I’ve always said that with six test matches (including five at the Ashes) it’s better to be a little underplayed than overdone. I’m speaking from a gardener’s point of view. So I want to be physically fresh.

“Back home, we practiced a lot. We’ve been training hard, rejuvenated, refreshed and enthusiastic,” Cummins brushed off the rust talk during the ICC’s Challenge Legends Day event at the Oval.

Calling the track good with lots of rebounds, Cummins is confident his team has enough bowlers to take advantage of the conditions.

“You have to know your moments to get the wicket. We need to get 20 wickets and there is no point in trying everything at the first opportunity. We have a lot of pots that can be used at different times,” Cummins said.

Australia has a sad record of just two Test wins at the Oval in the last 50 years, and their combined winning percentage at the South London Stadium is just 14 percent.

“Our playing group didn’t play too many of those 50 tests. We’ve played several Ashes games, most of us. Few guys scored runs and the bowlers had some pace and rebound. So it should be good,” the skipper said. .

Cummins felt his team actually turned the corner during this WTC cycle after missing the bus last time.

In fact, he admitted that until they “missed” the game in the final of the first cycle of the championship in 2021, they really did not talk about it.

“That (lack of a final) was the driving force behind the team and we deserved to play in the final,” he said.

He said that among all the teams, if one side gave them the biggest push, it should be the Indian team that won back-to-back Down Under series.

“I think at home we were pretty formidable and only (beaten) by Rohit’s team (Team of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane) in the last two rounds…we were worried. end) of (his) career and at the top of his game,” Cummins said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)