Australia is absolutely “buzzing” after clinching their maiden T20I World Cup title defeating New Zealand in the final. It will bring that confidence into their Ashes 2021/22 series against England, fast bowler Pat Cummins said on Wednesday.
Australia beat New Zealand by eight wickets in the T20 decider on Sunday and has six players from the championship-winning outfit in their Ashes squad.
Australia Will Take Confidence From Winning T20I World Cup 2021: Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins, who, along with fellow quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, shared in the triumph in Dubai, said capturing the elusive title was a huge spur for the home summer.
“Absolutely, I think we’ll take confidence from it,” vice-captain Cummins told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s a different format but you saw somebody like (batter) Davey Warner, player of the tournament, that’s going to have huge confidence for him going into the summer.”
“As an Australian side, I think we all probably felt like we’ve underperformed a little bit in the last few years, haven’t won as many games as we’d probably expect. So to get back out and win a title on the world stage … it can be era-defining for a side. So everyone’s just absolutely buzzing, really excited for what’s next.”
Australia has not played a test since losing to India at the Gabba in January, which saw the hosts fall to a 2-1 series defeat as the tour to South Africa and the one-off Test against Afghanistan didn’t happen. As a result, the World Cup-winning players arrived home on Tuesday and have little time to get accustomed to red-ball cricket.
Currently undergoing a two-week COVID-19 quarantine in southern Queensland, they are able to train with each other during their isolation but will have only one three-day warmup match with other squad players in Brisbane before the Dec. 8 Ashes opener at the Gabba.
Pat Cummins Feels Fresh, And There’s No Niggles
Pat Cummins played down concerns that Australia might be underprepared.
“I always feel it’s better to be underdone than overdone coming into a big Test series,” he said.
“My body feels as good as it has in a couple of years. There’s no niggles, I feel really fresh. I think we’ve given ourselves the best chance to bowl plenty of overs and do well this summer.”
Veteran Usman Khawaja and middle-order batsman Travis Head were recalled to Australia’s squad for the opening two Ashes Tests against England Wednesday, with incumbent number five Matthew Wade axed. Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson were also in the 15-man line-up as back-up for the fast-bowling attack of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood after the shock retirement of James Pattinson last month.
Marcus Harris, as expected, got the nod in the absence of concussion-hit Will Pucovski and is expected to open alongside David Warner, fresh from his exploits in helping Australia win the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday. But there was no place for his fellow World Cup standout performer and Man of the final Mitchell Marsh, despite calls for the all-rounder to be given another chance at Test level.
Usman Khawaja, who has scored 2877 runs in 44 Tests at an average of 40.66, has not played for Australia since August 2019. Usman Khwaja had since played 44 Test, 40 ODI, and 9 T20I matches for Australia.