Former India batter Virender Sehwag is all praises for the Australia captain Pat Cummins, whose superb leadership has become the latest talk among the global cricketing fraternity. England have been defeated by 2 wickets in the first Ashes 2023 Test match at Edgbaston, with Cummins closing the game with the bat in hand and taking the Aussies to a 1-0 lead in a five-match series.
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The visitors had found themselves on the back foot after having lost their eight wickets, with another 54 runs still required to reach a 281-run target. However, the pair of Cummins (44*) and spinner Nathan Lyon (16*) did not bog down under pressure. Going for their shots whenever the deliveries were there to be hit, the duo kept marching forward and stitched together a match-winning unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership worth 55 (72).
With three runs required for victory, Cummins fittingly hit a boundary to an Ollie Robinson (2/43) delivery towards the third man fence to have the entire team dressing room jump up in unison with unadulterated joy.
Virender Sehwag Thoroughly Entertained By Pat Cummins Leading Australia To Win At Edgbaston
Claiming it to be one of the best Test match he has watched in recent times, Sehwag hailed the Cummins-Lyon partnership as the one to remember for a very long time. He, in fact, went on to name the Aussie skipper as the “new Mr. Cool in Test cricket”.
The 44-year-old made sure to give a special mention to England’s bold declaration on Day 1 of the Test, while also commended southpaw batter Usman Khawaja‘s knocks during both the innings.
While Khawaja smashed a brilliant century (141) in the first innings, he came up with a patient knock of 65 (197) on the final day to fittingly win the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
Cummins, meanwhile, had contributed with the bat in the first innings as well with a 38-run knock. On the bowling front, while the fast bowler went wicket less on Day 1, he did scalp four wickets in the second innings.
