India vs Australia: “Shocked that this Test is already over,” says Pat Cummins

India vs Australia: “Shocked that this Test is already over,” says Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins celebrates a wicket

The Australian bowling attack led by Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood made merry on Day 3 of the Adelaide Test to condemn India to their lowest ever score in Test cricket history. On a day that India began with their noses in front, the batsmen had no clue to the seam, movement and tight lines and lengths bowled by the Aussie pacers that they fell apart like a pack of cards on a difficult pitch to bat on.

It was Pat Cummins who began the onslaught by removing a big chunk of the top order before Josh Hazlewood went on to remove the lower-middle order and the tail. It was a complete bowling performance where there wasn’t a single false note. There however, were plenty of false notes in the Indian batting which they would want to rectify in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

‘You’ve got to have the mindset to stay patient’ – Cummins

Pat Cummins

Talking a day after the match concluded at a virtual press-conference, Pat Cummins talked about the early end of the Test saying, “Yeah it was pretty exciting. We were initially thinking about bowling them out within 200 and then going on to chase 260. For that to happen, we are talking late tomorrow. It’s really shocking that the Test is already over.”

Elaborating on the bowling plans and the pitch, he said, “I think we’ve concentrated on doing well as a bowling group and being disciplined. Things in red-ball cricket can happen very quickly but you’ve got to have the mindset to stay patient. For sure, we tried to bowl straight and tried the odd cherry out there that we didn’t take in the first innings. The wicket still felt like it had enough in it to get a bit of seam movement both ways.”

Cummins also had only good things to say about stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane who will captain the side in the 2nd Test at the MCG. “Ajinkya is really experienced and he has played a lot. He’s a well-respected leader. I’m sure he’s been through it all before. We’ll wait and see,” he said.

Cummins and Australia will hope more of the same is produced by the Aussie bowling attack at the Boxing Day Test and the final two as well.

Also Read: India vs Australia: ‘This is not the last Test of the series, it is the first’ – Harsha Bhogle wary of India’s chances following Adelaide debacle