He was on the MCG grounds three weeks ago, the day before the start of an ODI series against Pakistan, and answered more questions about the Test side than the one-day team.
The only thing the Australian captain has been asked for months has been the arrival of India. Australia’s elimination from the World T20 at the Super Eight stage in June went relatively smoothly at home because it happened in the middle of the night. Australia’s white ball tour of the UK only made headlines due to Cameron Green’s injury and the ramifications it would have on the Test team.
The ODI loss to Pakistan caused a brief storm, ironically because five players were rested to prepare for the Tests. Hardly anyone complained when those same players were rested from the subsequent T20I series which ended on Monday and which Australia won 3-0.
For the Australian public, only one thing seems to matter: beating India in a home test series this summer.
They haven’t done it in 10 years. Australia won one T20 World Cup, one World Test Championship and one ODI World Cup in that time, all away from home. But none of those achievements seem to matter as much to Australian cricket fans as back-to-back home defeats to India.
“I think for about half the locker room we haven’t won the Border-Gavaskar, so I think it’s one of the last things to score for a lot of us,” Cummins said on Thursday. “I also think that in almost every challenge we’ve faced over the last few years, we’ve stepped up and done well. I think doing that for one more year, another summer at home, would kind of solidify this, in Instead of just being a two- or three-season thing, it suddenly becomes a half-generation thing, so yeah, we’re all excited.”
Anticipation has reached a fever pitch. The back pages of some of Australia’s leading newspapers have been printed in Hindi.
While much attention has been paid to India in the build-up to Perth, due to questions over their form and the composition of their XI, this is quietly shaping up to be a big moment for this Australian team.
A third consecutive loss in a home series against India would not only tarnish the team’s legacy but also spell the end of an era. But Cummins believes there are no additional expectations on his side.
“I’m not sure if it’s pressure,” Cummins said. “You always feel pressure playing at home. You want to do well. We, as Australians, expect to do very well here at home. So we know they are a really strong team, and a lot of us were part of those stronger games.” “The last two or three series are big. We don’t look back too much. Every summer we want to do well, whoever we’re playing against.”
This time there are no excuses. Australia were missing Smith and David Warner in 2018-19. In the 2020-21 season there was strong discontent within the group around coach Justin Langer.
This time the camp is as set up and comfortable as ever. Your opponents are the ones under fire. India arrives in Australia after a 3-0 home loss to New Zealand. The last time Australia lost three Tests in a home series, in the 2010-11 Ashes, the selectors were sacked, the captain resigned and cricket Australia commissioned a large-scale independent review that led to the coach resigning after being asked to run again for his position. job.
Australia has been able to prepare quietly and calmly in Perth. But they know that knives stay sharp if they make a mistake. The saga surrounding Smith’s stint as an opener and the mass swirling around the ODI series loss to Pakistan was proof that the Australian public is not unwavering in its support. But that decision had to do with the bigger picture. And Cummins was confident it would pay off in what is shaping up to be a brutal five-Test series.
“In the Perth ODI, 48 hours after playing Adelaide, we thought it was high risk for our players to go there and then fly back to Sydney, and then fly back here a few days later,” Cummins said. “Some people may disagree. I think it’s one of those where you don’t necessarily see the benefits straight away, but obviously we have five Tests in Sri Lanka and a lot of another cricket. So it may not be for a few more months. late, you see those four extra days of travel pay dividends.
Australia has timed its preparation to the minute after months of talks. A vulnerable India awaits. It is now or never to claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for Cummins and his team.
