Pat Cummins has not played competitive cricket for more than five months, but he feels ready to play well for Australia.
Advertisement
Australia lost their last warm-up game against India going into the Super-12 stages. Pat Cummins finished the spell with 33-0, which was his first spell in a game after about five months.
Pat Cummins played his last competitive game in April for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He then missed the tour of the West Indies and Bangladesh with Australia, whereas he also skipped the IPL 2021 second leg. Cummins decided to stay at his home in Sydney with his Pregnant wife.
The Aussie vice-captain even joined the T20 World Cup squad late in the UAE after the birth of his first child.
However, the pacer believes that the break helped him to get charged for the ICC T20 World Cup and the Ashes.
Pat Cummins on T20 World Cup and Ashes 2021
Cummins trained with the NSW squad during the lockdown in Sydney. He believes that the break helped him get rid of the niggles and get into prime fitness.
“It was good to have a really good, solid five months of work,” Cummins said.
“I feel really refreshed. (I was) absolutely chomping at the bit to get over here and (play) the Ashes after this as well.”
Bowing for NSW on the center-wickets allowed Cummins to increase his speed.
“I was going flat out for the last month, knowing that we might not get a heap of game time before the World Cup starts,” Cummins said.
“I feel really good, in a great place.”
“It was great to go and play the practice game (on Wednesday) and I felt I got a lot out of that, so I’m ready to go.”
“We’ve got some of the best players in the world, everyone’s fit and ready to go, the vibe’s outstanding … we’ve played a lot of cricket together.”
IPL 2021 performance
Cummins bowled well for KKR in the first leg of IPL 2021. He scalped nine wickets, whereas he had a batting S/R of 166.07. The ability of Cummins to chip in with both bat and the ball makes him an important asset for the Australian side.