JOIN USCummins & Co prepared for the Indian grind
There were no shots fired, no predictions made, nothing something remotely abrasive in the way Pat Cummins went about his press-do on Saturday.
The civility observed in Australia's first open press conference since arriving in Bengaluru a few days ago was mildly unsettling for teams from Down Under have had a propensity to either wax eloquent in an effort to soften up their opponents or go at them with the intention of riling them up.
Cummins did neither, choosing instead to walk the middle path with as much poise as his tranquil blue eyes would allow him. He did, however, reminisce on India’s role in his rise to his current position at the helm.
Also Read | Karnataka storm into semifinal
After missing out on six years of Test cricket due to injuries after his 2011 debut, the paceman returned to the Australian side for two Tests against India in Ranchi and Dharmasala respectively in 2016-17. He has since become the face of Australian cricket, and now attempts to lead his side to their first Border-Gavaskar Trophy since 2004.
“I wanted to reaffirm that's where I wanted to be in Test cricket,” he said when asked about his spell of 4/106 in Ranchi. “I really enjoyed that spell, you can't be worried about your body or different things. You just got to go all out.
"Test cricket can be really, really harsh. You have got to accept that it's going to be grinding times, and you got to be out for it and embrace that challenge. Coming here to India when a lot of the talks are around, big spinning wicket, it's not always the case.
He continued: “You need to get into the grind at times. That role of the fast bowler, bowling a lot of overs for not a heap of reward but doing your job for your team. I really enjoy that aspect of the last tour. I don’t imagine it being any different this time around."
Certainly not.
The Australians - who arrived in Bengaluru on February 1 for a short training camp at Alur before heading to the four-Test which gets underway in Nagpur from February 9 - have been focussed on spinners since landing on Indian shores.
So much so that they went out of their way to find net bowlers who could replicate the likes of R Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja - just in case the left-arm spinner does make the cut. But, Cummins’ focus has also been on coming to India with a comprehensive set of spinners.
"We’ve got plenty of options here (with) finger spin and wrist spin. The good thing is someone like (Ashton) Agar was in our last team, (Mitchell) Swepson played the last two overseas tours, so a bit of experience. (Todd) Murphy was part of the last tour. We feel that we got a lot of support in that department for Lyon.”
Cummins, however, insisted that their intimidating pace unit should not be ignored. "I think sometimes, talking about a couple of spinners, you forget how good a lot of our fast bowlers have been in all conditions. Even some of the SCG wickets, there haven’t been a lot in them for quick bowlers, but the quick bowlers have found a way,” he said.
Head coach Andrew McDonald also noted that this Australian team does not come with the baggage of victories and losses from teams of the past. "No two teams are the same, and you don’t inherit the past. We're in a good position because we have played Sri Lanka and Pakistan before coming here. That's preparation enough."