Legendary Australian cricketer Allan Border has praised Pat Cummins’ choice to bowl in the final as one of the best decisions he has ever seen made by the captain in International Cricket. The Australian skipper’s call in the toss was regarded as a stroke of genius, which helped their side win the Sixth ODI World Cup title.
After winning the toss at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Cummins elected to bowl first, which surprised many and was considered a daring gamble considering the match’s high stakes. The move opposed the traditional cricketing wisdom by scoring early and forcing the opposition to work hard in the run chase as the surface deteriorated.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Allan Border lauded Australia’s captain Pat Cummins’s decision to bowl first on a tricky wicket and said that his immediate response to the call, saying Cummins had lost his mind and it wasn’t the proper judgment and added that Rohit Sharma’s innings at the top of the order felt like the decision to bowl first has backfired for the team.
“Pat Cummins’ “bowl first’’ call in the World Cup final was one of the bravest decisions I have seen from a cricket captain. I must be honest, when I heard Pat say “we will bowl’’ I thought “oh no, Patrick, you have lost the plot, you blokes. When Rohit Sharma was going hard early, I thought “what are we doing?’ Those first half a dozen to 10 overs I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, The decision to bowl first has just backfired,” Allan Border said.
Despite helping Australia retain the Ashes and win the World Test Championship (WTC), Cummins took a lot of criticism for his captaincy following the team’s loss against India and South Africa. However, he came back stronger to lead the team to eight straight victories before the ODI World Cup final and was also praised for his on-field ideas and tactics on the marquee event.
Australia Left Nothing In The Shed And Saved Their Best For Last – Allan Border
Allan Border praised Pat Cummins for his brilliant captaincy skills throughout the marquee event, taking few suggestions from the senior players on the field, and believes that the team performed exceptionally well in all three departments to outperform the in-form Indian team, claiming that the Australian team saved their best for last.
“He’s just grown as a captain and a leader, Tactically out on the field, he’s got some good senior men, which he goes to a fair bit and why not?. The captaincy was excellent. The fielding was excellent. Everything Australia touched turned to gold. They left nothing in the shed and saved their best for last,” Allan Border added.
The decision to bowl first was a tactical success for the team in the marquee final. Australia’s fearsome fast bowling trio— Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc—executed their plans flawlessly, efficiently deploying cutters and bouncers on the slow surface to pick up wickets on a regular interval.
