Being little underdone is preferable than being overdone: Cummins laments lack of playing time before WTC final

Instead of playing two months of T20 cricket and being fatigued for a long English summer, Australia skipper Pat Cummins prefers to remain a little uncooked heading into the high-stakes WTC final versus India.

When asked whether the majority of the Australian team—with the exception of Cameron Green, David Warner, and Marnus Labuschagne—would be a little rusty after playing so little since the India series, the captain Sunday argued to the contrary.

The contemporary day great, who has 217 Test wickets from 49 games, claimed that “breaks are rare to come by.”

“I have always maintained that it is preferable to be somewhat underdone than overdone with six Test matches (including five in the Ashes). I’m speaking from the perspective of a bower. I thus want to be physically fit.

“We exercised a much back home. During the ICC’s ‘Afternoon with Test Legends’ event at the Oval, Cummins dismissed claims of rustiness, saying, “We have trained hard, revived and refreshed and are hungry.

Cummins describes the surface as excellent with enough of bounce and is certain that his side has enough bowlers to take advantage of the circumstances.

“You must be aware of when to press for wickets. There is no sense in doing anything in the first innings since we need to gain 20 wickets. We may utilise a variety of bowlers at various times, according to Cummins.

Only two of Australia’s 50 Test victories have occurred at the Oval, and their total victory rate at the South London venue is a pitiful 14%.

“We haven’t played a lot of those 50 Tests as a playing group. Most of us have participated in a few Ashes matches. Few players have scored runs, although the bowlers’ speed and bounce were decent. Therefore, that ought to be okay,” the captain remarked.

After missing the bus the last time, Cummins believed that his team had made significant progress during this round of the WTC.

In fact, he acknowledged that they hadn’t really spoken about it until they “missed out” on participating in the championship cycle’s first game in 2021.

“That (missing the final) has been the driving force behind the team, and we deserve to play the final,” he said.

According to him, out of all the teams, the Indian squad, which has won back-to-back series Down Under, must have given them the most push.

“I believe that at home, we have been quite tough, and in the most recent tours, the only team to defeat us was Rohit’s squad, which had Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane… We’ve had problems. Everyone is in their groove, and some are at the pinnacle of their professions, according to Cummins.