Pat Cummins insists Australia are ready for the India onslaught this time around.
The Australia fast bowler says they are far better prepared and equipped to face Team India than last time around.
Virat Kohli and his men travel Down Under later in the year and India, under Kohli in the 2018/19 series, became the first Asian side to beat Australia in a Test series on their own turf. The series featured stellar performances from batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant and Kohli and the fast bowling battery featuring Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.
“I think we’ll be ready for them this time,” Cummins told cricket.com.au
Australia were without the services of Steve Smith and David Warner in the last series as both were serving bans for their involvement in the Sandpapergate controversy. However, with the duo back in the fold, Australia’s batting unit looks vastly stronger.
“Everyone’s a little more experienced this time because obviously we’ve got a couple of class batters back in the side and someone like Marnus (Labuschagne) has played a bit more and done brilliantly,” Cummins said. “So I feel like we’re in a better position.”
The world No. 1 Test bowler also said that the Australia bowling unit will need to “take their medicine” to outlast Pujara in the home series this summer.
Pujara was one of the defining factors of India’s historic win over Australia in 2018/19. He was the top scorer in the series with 521 runs and faced a whopping 1,258 balls.
“He had a mammoth series for them. He’s one of those players that’ll take his time, he’s in his own little bubble and he doesn’t get disturbed by too much,” Cummins said. “We’ve got to find a way to outlast him if he bats the way he did last time. There wasn’t too much in the pitch so you couldn’t manufacture anything. So I think (we need to) take our medicine a bit more and try and outlast him.”
