Before this Test match, Pat Cummins had just played a first-class game in around a period of six years and his selection in the team only came after James Pattinson himself backed out of the tour to get back in the groove after recovering from an injury. Pattinson was straight away given a chance on a pitch, that Australians earlier cried is over spinner-friendly but Cummins turned the fortunes in his way as the 23-year old fast bowler scalped three wickets on day three, including that of Ajinkya Rahane and Indian skipper Virat Kohli,
“It’s superb. I thought last night he bowled particularly well, but today he backed that up and to produce some of the balls he produced to get wickets is pretty exciting. Hats off to the selectors to go with him. Ball speed in India is a big thing because the wickets don’t generate any pace. But he was way higher than the expectations we had,” said David Saker, the Australia’s bowling coach.
“If he ends up bowling more overs than first expected, then so be it. It’s tough cricket over here and because he’s bowling so well the captain will want to keep going to him. I can’t see him bowling too many overs tomorrow and maybe if we do have a bowl on the final day, I think it will be more a spinning wicket,” he added.
Saker further accepted that Cummins performing in such a way is also a headache for the selectors as Starc, the fast bowling spearhead who was ruled out of the tour midway due to an injury will automatically walk in the squad anytime he comes. Along with that, Josh Hazlewood is also almost a permanent member of the squad as of now and with James Pattinson and Jackson Bird in the bag, it will be a headache for selectors to play Bird, Cummins and Pattinson when available at same time,
“It will be a bit of a headache for the selectors when it does happen,” Saker said. “It’s really good to see. Patty [Cummins] today going really well, Josh and Mitch had a fantastic summer. Then we’ve got Jimmy Pattinson, the way he’s come back in the last few Shield games and he’s got another chance in a Shield final, so that’s really good for him and good for Australian cricket.
“To be strong in world cricket and especially the Australian team you need a good crop of fast bowlers and we’ve got that at the moment. But we’ve had a lot of problems getting them to the park. There are still other back-up bowlers.
“Jackson Bird is here, he does a fantastic job when he’s called upon. Peter Siddle’s been outstanding for long periods of time. Chadd Sayers again, probably one of the unlucky fast bowlers in Australian cricket. We’ve got a good crop so that’s exciting for me and the Australian cricket team,” Saker concluded.