AHMEDABAD: On the eve of his team 2023 World Cup final against India, Australian captain Pat Cummins had said that his team wanted to "hear a big crowd go silent" at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. It was a very-unlike Cummins statement. Normally not known as someone who would indulge in big talk before a match or the series or make bold predictions about his team or himself, Cummins, it seemed, for once had donned the garb of one of Aussie pace great Glenn McGrath, who was famous for doing this throughout his career, for once.
On match day, though, Cummins actually carried out his 'threat,' when he delivered body blows to India's formidable middle-order, bagging the key wickets of the in-form Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli with beautiful deliveries to leave the 1,30,000 partisan crowd, cheering for India when they teed off well with the bat, stunned into radio silence. Mitchell Starc took 3-55, Josh Hazlewood returned 2-60, but what derailed India's innings chiefly on a slow, sluggish wicket was Cummins' parsimonious haul of 10-0-34-2.
On a pitch which neither had swing or seam in the first half, it was a 'Masterclass' of high-class pace bowling from the Australian captain, as he choked India's batsmen with the 'heavy ball.' While Iyer succumbed to a back-of-the-length delivery around the off-stump area, Kohli ended up dabbing another short delivery, which didn't give room to free his arms, onto his stumps.
How much impact he had on India's 'slowdown' can be judged by the fact that while they raced away to 80 for two in the first 10 overs, they were never able to even at five per over after Cummins introduced himself in the ninth over. A stat on Cricinfo showed that in the death overs, Cummins has taken bowled 865 balls, in which he has taken 57 wickets, at an economy rate of 6.84. Incredible indeed!
A day before the match, the Australian media reported that the Cummins had concerns about a couple of rough patches on both ends of the wicket, even though he told the media that he was happy with the pitch. However, on the 'D' Day, he put all those thoughts behind, and was switched on like how!
Starting with the taking the bold, but calculated decision to bowl first on a dry wicket against India, a team with heavy batting artillery, and that too in a final, Cummins got most things right on Sunday, including leading from the front with the ball. For someone who hasn't captained too much in the ODIs, this was clearly his best day in the 'hot seat,' always on top with his bowling changes and tactical with his field placements. He once asked his teammates to calm down and take a deep breath after the conceded two overthrows out of over-excitement.
It wasn't a World Cup which started on the perfect note for the 30-year-old, who picked up just one wicket in his first two games. In the third game, at Lucknow, though, it was Cummins who led Australia's resurgence in the tournament after two defeats, striking out both Sri Lanka's openers Pathum Nissanka (61) and Kusal Perera (78) when the pair had raced away to 125 by the 22nd over. Sri Lanka eventually collapsed to 209 all out, and Australia recorded the first of their eight wins. At the Wankhede Stadium against Afghanistan, while it was Glenn Maxwell who deservedly won the plaudits for his magnificent double hundred, Cummins too played his part in that 202-run eighth wicket partnership that pulled off a miraculous win for Australia, as he held the other end firmly with his unbeaten 12 off 68 balls.
In a remarkable 2023 for Australia, which saw them pull off a rare Test win in India on a landmine of a pitch at Indore, beat India in the World Test Championship final at the Oval in England, retain the Ashes after a drawn series, and now make it to the World Cup final, Cummins' leadership and excellence with the ball has played a stellar role.
Cummins was just six-year-old when Steve Waugh's star-studded Australian team won the World Cup title in 1999, and 10 when Ricky Ponting's men added another trophy to their cabinet, beating India in the title clash.
On the eve of the final, explaining what it would mean to be a World Cup-winning captain, the fast bowler had said: "It would be huge. We were all kids not too long ago, watching some of those great teams win the '99, '2003, & 2007 World Cups. That's the opportunity ahead of us tomorrow, which is really exciting. To be captain would be an absolute privilege to lift the trophy with these great bunch of blokes."
And yes, while leading Australia from the front in this World Cup in India, Cummins has also made a case for being a worthy pick in the IPL auction next month.
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