Still coming to grips with the happenings of Saturday, Pat Cummins slumped in his chair while addressing the media in the aftermath of his side’s innings and 132-run loss to India at the VCA stadium.
He hunted for positives where there were barely any, but he couldn’t help but demand that his batters be braver so as to be able to give India a challenge.
“We saw Steven (Smith) batting and he was doing exactly what he had planned,” said Cummins. “I don’t think the others did. We need to be more proactive and brave in conditions like this. Obviously, the conditions are hard and the bowling is world-class, but that’s what we’re going to face in the next three Tests."
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“We need to figure a way to tackle this,” he added.
Speaking about the second session, one where Australia lost all ten wickets for 91 runs, Cummins said: “Not too much (to talk about). The game really speeds up and that’s good if you’re ahead, but if you’re behind it can be really challenging. I thought their bowlers bowled very well. Obviously, they (R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja) are two masters at their game. They bowled very well.”
There was some good news for Cummins, though. He revealed that Mitchell Starc will be ready for the next Test in New Delhi, and Cameron Green too has a shot at making it back.
“…Josh (Hazlewood) won’t be ready, though. The other two should mostly be available for selection. We’ll assess this during the course of the next two days,” he noted.
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