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WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Will lack of game time affect the Australians? Pat Cummins responds

The World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia, starting from June 7 at The Oval, is expected to be a mouth-watering context between the two cricketing giants. 

WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Will lack of game time affect the Australians? Pat Cummins responds snt
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First Published Jun 5, 2023, 12:22 PM IST

Instead of playing two months of T20 cricket and becoming jaded for a hard English summer, Australia captain Pat Cummins prefers to remain a little uncooked going into the high-stakes WTC final versus India.

When questioned on Sunday about whether the majority of the Australian team—except for Cameron Green, David Warner, and Marnus Labuschagne—would be a little rusty after having played so little since the India series, the skipper argued to the contrary.

Also read: WTC Final: India's Rohit Sharma reveals key to success on English tracks ahead of Australian challenge

"Breaks are rare to come by," said Cummins, who has 217 Test wickets from 49 games.

"I have always said, with six Test matches (including five in the Ashes), it is better to be slightly underdone than overdone. I am talking from a bower's point of view. So I want to be physically fresh. Back home, we did lot of training. We have trained hard, rejuvenated and refreshed and are keen," Cummins brushed aside talks of rustiness during ICC's 'Afternoon with Test Legends' event at the Oval.

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

"You need to know your moments to push for wickets. We need to get 20 wickets and there is no point trying everything in the first innings. We have plenty of bowlers to be used at different times," Cummins said.

Also read: WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Will in-form Cameron Green curb his natural attacking game?

Only two of Australia's 50 Test victories have occurred at the Oval, and their overall victory rate at the South London venue is a pitiful 14 per cent.

"Our playing group hasn't played too many of those 50 Tests. We have played few Ashes games, most of us. Few guys have scored runs and bowlers have had some pace and bounce. So it should be good," the Australian skipper said.

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 talked about it until they "missed out" on playing in the championship cycle's opening game in 2021.

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

Also read: WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Ravi Shastri, Ricky Ponting and Wasim Akram pick their favourites

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 think at home we have been pretty formidable and only (beaten) by Rohit's team (Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane's team) in last couple of tours... we have been troubled. Everyone is hitting their grooves and some are at back (end) of (their) careers and at top of their games," Cummins concluded.

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