Pat Cummins, Australian pacer said that he has full faith and confidence in Australian batsmen to find lost form and backed them to rise to the occasion ahead of the 3rd Test against India.
The Australian pacer has backed Australian batting stalwart Steve Smith to find lost form after the former skipper failed scoring only 10 runs in 4 innings averaging a pathetic 3.33 in the first two Tests against India which has raised concerns over the host’s batting line-up.
Pat Cummins: Absolutely No Stress Australian Batsman Will Come Good
For the first time since 1988-89, none of the Australian batsmen managed to score fifty in a Test match at home. To add to their woes, Australia were quite poor on the field as well, as the team dropped quite a few catches.
Pat Cummins said he still had full faith in Australia’s top batsmen to step up and play well following a poor Melbourne outing where they were bundled for 195 and 200 as India won to level series 1-1.
Steve Smith, the world’s top-ranked Test batsman, was out without scoring for the first time in four years in the first innings before being bowled around his legs by pacer Jasprit Bumrah after scoring eight which is his highest score so far in the ongoing Test series in the second as India emerged victorious at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“Absolutely no stress,” Cummins said.
Pat Cummins has welcomed the prospect of stalwart opener David Warner returning for the third Test.
“They’ll come good.” “Steve’s been champion for a dozen years or so, so absolutely no stress at all. Every batter, every player, goes through ups and downs and the great ones find a way to get back, so yeah absolutely no stress that they’ll come good, I’m sure.”
“It’s only been two Test matches,” he said. “It’s too small a sample size to say people need to change the way they go about things.”
After India’s comeback morale lifting win in the Boxing Day Test, the four-match series is level at 1-1 after the conclusion of two Tests. The Sydney Cricket Ground is scheduled to host the 3rd Test, starting January 7 while Brisbane will hold final 4th Test.
Pat Cummins: Only 12 Months Ago Australian Batsmen Dominated Against Pakistan And New Zealand
Australia won against Pakistan at Brisbane and Adelaide in both 2 Tests by an innings. David Warner who didn’t play the first two Tests against India failing to recover from groin injury was the highest scorer with 489 runs while Marnus Labuschagne scored 347 runs. Australia won all 3 Tests against New Zealand too as Marnus Labuschagne was top scorer with 549 runs whereas David Warner and Steve Smith scored in excess of 200 runs.
“It was only 12 months ago that our batters absolutely dominated” against Pakistan and New Zealand added Cummins.
In the ongoing Test series, Indian stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane is leading run-getter with 181 runs after scoring 112 in the Melbourne Test. He is trailed by Australians Marnus Labuschagne who has 129 runs and Matthew Wade who has 111 runs besides their name. The trio is the only players to accumulate more than 100 runs so far.