NEW DELHI: Fresh and rested from a part of the white-ball series against India, Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has said he is ready to take on Virat Kohli in the first Test of the upcoming four-match series to be played at the Adelaide Oval from December 17.
“I am happy I don’t have to bowl to Steve Smith. That’s great. And I saw Kane Williamson’s double hundred. Pretty glad I am not playing there (in New Zealand against Williamson). I think when you are in the moment, you may be try to lift a little bit. You sense a big wicket when someone walks out there. Normally it is the captain getting into the contest. That is really the important part of the game,” Cummins responded on Friday to a query about him looking forward to a duel with skipper Kohli in the Adelaide Test.
However, Kohli is often lauded for his on-field veracity and agression. Team India skipper Virat Kohli doesn’t believe in passive resistance and wants to dominate the opposition, says former Australia skipper Greg Chappell.
In a column for The Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell says that Kohli is the most “Australian non-Australian cricketer” of all time.
“Virat Kohli does not believe in passive resistance. He is a proponent of all-out aggression. His idea is to dominate the opposition,” writes Chappell.
Hign on energy, Pat Cummins wants the typical Australian pace and bounce on pitches during the upcoming Test series against India after the Aussie bowling attack had struggled in the Melbourne and Sydney Tests during the last home series against Virat Kohli’s men.
The 2018-19 series began well for Australian bowlers in the first two Tests in Adelaide and Perth as they managed to dismiss India all four times. However, they found it hard to decode the Indian batting on dead tracks in Melbourne and Sydney even though the Indian pace attack succeeded.
“First of all (I like to see) a fair balance between bat and ball. I don’t think a Test match, where a team can go on and bat and get 600 runs, is good viewing for anyone. So hopefully it is a fair contest. Obviously here in Australia we want some kind of our own conditions that reflect Australia. I think the best Test matches here are when there is pace and bounce in the wickets. Adelaide Oval here has been a really good wicket every time I have played. That is what I will be asking for. Yeah, bit of pace and bounce, hopefully a bit of spin for (Nathon)Lyon too,” said Cummins on Friday on being asked during a media interaction if he would want more pace and bounce in Sydney and Melbourne than the Australian bowlers got when India were last here.
On the other hand, OZ batsman Will Pucvoski set for his debut Test match against India has had a history of getting concussed in the past, and he also suffered mild concussion in the first warm-up match against India A after he was hit on the helmet from Kartik Tyagi at Drummoyne Oval, Sydney on the third day’s play. Thus, the right-hander was ruled out of the second warm-up match against the visitors and it has put his selection in doubt for the first Test match.
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels Pucovski will be tested against a strong Indian bowling line-up. Mohammed Shami has an accurate bounce under his belt and he can give a testing time to the youngster. “He’s [Mohammed Shami] got as good a bouncer as any I’ve seen…Definitely. I think you would expect that to happen. Once you enter the ground whether it’s playing for your country, or even playing for your state or club, you’re going to cop it,” Sunil Gavaskar said while talking to Sydney Daily Telegraph.
“If the word is that you’re not really comfortable against a particular delivery, you’re going to get a lot of it. I don’t see India easing up because he’s [Will Pucovski] had a history of concussion,” Gavaskar reasoned.