Pakistan tour: Australia skipper Pat Cummins prepares for a slow grind
Baggy Greens look to improve their overseas record in Asia during Pakistan series
Melbourne: Australia captain Pat Cummins believes his Ashes-winning team will have to alter their approach and be prepared to grind out success on their first tour of Pakistan in 24 years.
Cummins oversaw Australia’s 4-1 romp against England in his first series in charge, but vastly different conditions await them in the three-Test series in Pakistan beginning in Rawalpindi on March 4.
“The most obvious one is to win the series,” Cummins said on Friday of his goal in Pakistan where Australia will also play four limited-overs matches.
“But I think that might not necessarily look like two wins and one loss or whatever, it might be having to grind out some tough Test matches and hold out for a draw.
“A hard-fought, five-day grinding out for a draw in the context of a three-match series might be as good as a win.” “We don’t really know what we’re going to expect over there, but sub-continent test matches can be played quickly or can be played slowly.”
Since their 2004 series triumph in India, Australia have won only five of the 28 Tests they played in Asia, three of them coming against Bangladesh.
Cummins was optimistic his side, despite their lack of experience on sub-continent’s dry wickets, could fix their unflattering record there.
“For a lot of this group, we haven’t played a lot of cricket overseas so if we want to be number one in the world, we need to have a really good showing on these sub-continent tours, and that starts in Pakistan,” Cummins said.
Patience would be key to achieve that and Cummins said both batsmen and bowlers were ready for the rigour.
“Obviously us bowlers getting ready for the Test matches, we’ve had some really long spells in the nets so we’re used to it.
“But I think it’s that mindset of being okay with ticking along at two runs an over, whereas here you might be used to three or four runs an over,” he added.