Australia’s vice-captain Pat Cummins has opined that they are looking to build a player like MS Dhoni for which the management is backing players and giving enough game time to adjust. His statement was the reaction to Australia’s defeat in the first T20I match of the three-match series against England because of the early fall of the middle-order.
After bowling England all out at 162, the visitors Australia failed to chase the target even though they had an excellent start. Aaron Finch and David Warner set up a 98-runs partnership before the former lost his wicket. With a match-winning start, Australia were predictable winners but their middle-order collapsed like a house of card.
Australia needed 39 off 35 balls with 9 wickets in hand but their star performers Steve Smith, David Warner, and Glen Maxwell consecutively lost the wicket. The allrounder Marcus Stoinis failed to score 15 runs from the last over as the host won the match by 2 runs.
Pat Cummins acknowledges that the middle-order of Australia is a matter of concern but he is confident that as players will get the experience they will get better.
Maxwell and Stoinis had scored excessively in the practice matches ahead of the series. So, Cummins believes that they need to be backed because they had played in the domestic circuit and they do well there but need some time.
“It’s something we’ve spoken about for exactly that reason — they’re all the best players when they go back to playing domestic comps,” Cummins was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.
“You could argue that middle-order role is one of the hardest in any cricket team. That’s what we’ve identified, we’ve got to give guys a go.
Australia need finisher like MS Dhoni: Pat Cummins
Hailing MS Dhoni as the best finisher, Pat Cummins said that he was best because of his experience of playing in almost 400 matches.
“Someone like MS Dhoni, he was one of the best in the world because he played 3-400 ODI games. You saw during this week’s practice games we gave a lot of guys a go in that.”
The speedster said that the players can not be build overnight so the captain Finch and selectors have decided to give them more time to settle in the combination.
“We know it’s not going to happen overnight. That’s been a common theme that selectors and Finchy have spoken about: we’ll identify roles and give them a long run in that.
“I think we’ve got the right squad, the right players, it’s about getting plenty of games into everyone now,” the pace spearhead said.