Even though India failed to reach the final of the Asia Cup 2022, they came back with the biggest positive in Virat Kohli’s form: the former India skipper finished with 276 runs at a strike rate of 147, including, and importantly, breaking the long wait of his 71st international ton, by smashing his maiden T20I century – 122* off 61balls vs Afghanistan.
That was all over social media, so much that even though Pat Cummins didn’t watch any of the Asia Cup matches, he made it sure he enjoyed Kohli’s ballistic knock. The Australia Test skipper said that he isn’t surprised by the way that Kohli has roared back to form in the Asia Cup.
Cummins will soon bowl to Kohli when the two titans clash in the first of the 3-T20I series between India and Australia, starting Tuesday in Mohali.
“To be totally honest, I didn’t see any of that tournament. I think Sri Lanka won? Honestly, I didn’t see any of it. I saw Virat Kohli, I think he scored a hundred, yeah he’s a class player, he was always going to return to form at some point in time. He’s going to be a challenge this next week,” Cummins said on Sunday in a press conference in Mohali.
Cummins has huge experience of playing in Indian conditions courtesy of his stints in the IPL; so do most of his teammates, who will look to send a strong message with a series win in India before the T20 World Cup next month. For that, the speedster said, his players will have to quickly adapt to the conditions of Indian ground and pitches.
“I think a lot of games in India are played at a different pace as compared to Australia, the boundaries are normally a bit smaller. I think you need to adapt really quickly, you will have some days where the wicket is a bit slower, then cutters and those types of things are really important for the bowlers.
“So, everyone here has played a lot in India and everyone understands it. It is a format you have to be up for, and if it does not work on the day, then you need to move on quickly from it,” he added.
Pat Cummins backs Aaron Finch to come good soon
Inevitably, Cummins was queried about skipper Aaron Finch, who retired from ODI cricket earlier this month due to form and age, and the home T20 World Cup could well be his last international assignment.
The Test skipper sounded confident about the mindset of his T20I captain, pointing out that Finch had led the side to Australia’s first-ever T20 World Cup trophy less than 12 months ago, in the UAE.
“Just the normal Aaron Finch, he has been great. Had a bit of a chat with him, and he said he’s in a good space. Even in the ODIs, he knew it was time in his own mind. He seems fantastic; it was only 12 months ago that he led us to a T20 World Cup victory so he is raring to go, and he will be a key player as he always is,” Cummins added.
IND vs AUS 2022
India Squad for Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.
Australia squad: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis(wk), Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa.
