Australia captain Pat Cummnis is ready for a relentless Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the opening Test match in Perth, Cummins said that the team is well prepared and looking forward to the challenge against India. The Men in Blue have been incredible tourers in Test cricket winning back-to-back series Down Under. India will hope to replicate their form in the Test series once again, this time under the leadership of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
Cummins spoke about the margins in the series and pointed out to the fact that the last edition was decided on the final day of the two-month-long tour. This time India play 5 Tests instead of 4, which is expected to add spice to the series.
“The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has always been very tight every series. A five-Test match series gets really attritional; it’s a big one, really,” Pat Cummins said in the pre-match press conference.
“There will always be pressure when you are playing at home. India are a very talented side and it will be a good challenge. But we are not looking too far ahead. It would be great to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India are a great side, but we are well prepared,” Cummins said in the pre-match press conference.
One of the main fixes that Australia will need to do is to fix the opening spot. Since Steve Smith decided to move back to No. 4 Australia have been wracking their brains over who could potentially partner Usman Khawaja. The team fixed on Nathan McSweeney for the series, who does not even open in the Sheffield Series. Cummins said that McSweeney needed to play his natural game and not look to emulate the style of David Warner in the Test series.
“David Warner is very hard to replace in many ways. The important thing for Nate is to play his natural game. He does not need to strike at 80 SR like Davey did. That’s not his game. For someone like Uzi, he gets the bowlers to come back again and again and I think Nate is very similar in that regard,” Cummins concluded on the matter.
The opening Test match start on November 22, 7:50 AM IST.
