India vs Australia: “We’ve had close to perfect preparation,” says Pat Cummins ahead of Test series

Australian vice-captain and bowler Pat Cummins has not played red-ball cricket in the last 12 months. The pacer was also rested for the T20Is against India preceding the all-important Test series. However, Cummins was upbeat and confident about his preparations for the upcoming Test series against India that begins in Adelaide on December 17 with a day-night pink ball Test match.

Pat Cummins is currently the No. 1 ranked bowler in the world in Test cricket with a whopping 904 points and he would want to sustain his performances in a similar vein to what makes him one of the most feared Test-match bowlers in world cricket. Cummins’ battles with Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be one to watch out for due to their past history of eye-catching encounters although it can be seen only in the first Test with the Indian batting ace leaving for India for his first child’s birth.

‘I feel fresh ahead of the series’

Speaking about the lack of match experience over the past year, Pat Cummins talked to Cricbuzz and said, “I don’t see too much of a problem. I’ve been playing and bowling quite a bit, high-intensity, played 20 games or so in the last couple of months and it’s just that slight tweak as we move into longer-form cricket.“

“I feel fresh, that week or so I had a home was great preparation. A good balance between downtime and doing little things I haven’t been able to do over last few months but of course still training, build some strength up, preparing for this pretty long stint. If I could pick out the perfect preparation, think that was pretty close to it given all the circumstances,” he added.

Talking about the pitch conditions, “Obviously here in Australia we want the kind of conditions that reflect Australia, think the best Test matches are when there is pace and bounce in the wickets. Adelaide Oval has been a really good wicket each time I’ve played. So, a bit of pace and bounce and hopefully a bit of spin for Lyno [Nathan Lyon] too,” the Australian vice-captain said.

Talking about the lack of sledging and friendliness in the tour so far, “I think it’s [the tour] been quite friendly in terms of banter – you see a lot of smiling faces around. That said, you see a lot of quick bowling out there, lots of batters taking the game on. So, I won’t say that the actual match play has been overly friendly, it’s been really competitive and hard. How we play the game reflects who we are as people and for the most part, the Aussie team is a pretty relaxed bunch, we like a bit of a laugh, so let’s see what happens in this series,” Cummins signed off.

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