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Players already started enjoying Pakistan tour, says Cummins

Tells jouranlists it’s great to be here in Islamabad and he is feeling pretty safe: Declares facing Pakistani’s exciting young fast bowlers as new challenge

February 27, 2022 01:40 PM


Australia cricket team captain Pat Cummins on Sunday interacted with Pakistani and Australian journalists in a virtual press conference after landing in Rawalpindi and said he felt safe in Pakistan and his teammates have already starting enjoying the tour, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Pat Cummins said that Pakistan cricket board officials and staffers were very professional.

He revealed that the Australian cricket team used to spend time in hotels and had experience in their tour to India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHLbHIooWbM

The Australian cricket skipper said his team has been enjoying their stay in Pakistan on their first-ever visit in 24 years and there’s no distraction other than the cricket.

“We know that Pakistan’s incredible cricketing nation. We came back here after a whole generation. The Pakistan side has remained incredible and we are fortunate enough that they are also coming to Australia to play ICC T20 matches.”

Pat Cummings said sub-continent fans have a different experience in comparison to the fans in Australia. They are loud and passionate. It’s a special moment to play the first match between two countries in 24 years. So come along and watch us.”

https://twitter.com/stevesmith49/status/1497729700025683969

Commenting on the team selection of Australia, the Australian skipper commented that it was about striking the balance and you always choose your best side to play in such series.

https://twitter.com/TheRealPCB/status/1497778327536472067

He said players have also got the cards and the playstation to kill the time in other than the matches.

The players will start the practice after the coronavirus test clearance.

https://twitter.com/TheRealPCB/status/1497090745139970066

An excited Pat Cummins, who will be playing international cricket for the first time in Pakistan, expressed pleasure upon landing in Pakistan for the first time.

Cummins, who has been playing international cricket for over a decade now, will be playing his first-ever international match in Pakistan next month.

In his Twitter post, Cummins acknowledged the warm welcome provided to him by the official Twitter handle of PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board).

Speaking after Australia’s touring squad touched down in Pakistan for the first time in 24 years, Cummins told journalist in his online presser that some ‘unlucky decisions’ in store for the first Test in Rawalpindi on March 4. “It’s going to be a tough one… it’s one of the blessings of having 15, 16, 17 guys who have all performed recently,” Cummins said of the looming selection headache.

“Scotty Boland came straight in and bowled fantastically; we know how good Josh [Hazlewood] is, Starcy [Mitchell Starc]. You think of us four quick bowlers and you can only probably pick three, so I’ll leave it up to the selectors. “There’s going to be some unlucky decisions made, but that’s professional sport.”

Further muddying the waters is the possibility for leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson to receive a long-awaited Test debut in partnership with Nathan Lyon. However, Cummins maintained any moves towards a twin-spin bowling attack won’t be made lightly.

“In unknown conditions, the real changes over here in the subcontinent is normally over two spinners or three quicks,” he said. “We’ll get out to the ground in the next few days and have a look – there are some unknowns but there’s also been some Test cricket over here.

“We’re really confident in our squad that we have all bases covered. I think you don’t need to look into it too deeply unless the conditions are really telling you something else.”

“We’ve been really well looked after by the PCB upon arrival, lots of security straight off the plane, straight to the hotel,” Cummins said of the team’s arrival in Pakistan. “We’ll pretty much be confined to the hotel other than games and training. It feels really good – I’ve travelled to India and places like that a lot where you probably don’t leave the hotel too much, so we’re used to it.

“That [safety] was one of the big factors that we wanted to be really thorough on before arriving here – not only security but biosecurity. Everyone’s done a fantastic job, we feel like we’re here and can just concentrate on the cricket. “We can really enjoy our first tour here in 24 years, there’s no distractions other than the cricket.”

Cummins was quick to praise Pakistan as an ‘incredible cricket nation’, and expressed pride in being able to reciprocate a tour to the country. “We feel lucky that we get to come back here after basically a whole generation didn’t get that opportunity,” the captain said.

“I think a combination of having more and more cricket here has meant that not only can we get back here to play a game, but we’ve got three Test matches, ODIs a T20.

“To come back and have a full tour is just tremendous, and we know how fantastic Pakistan have always been.

“We’re fortunate that they’ve come out to play us in Australia, so it’s great we can return the favour and play here.”

Cummins remained tight-lipped over any changes made to the game-plan following the controversial departure of former coach Justin Langer. “I’m not sure, to be honest,” Cummins said when asked about any radical differences in the team’s set-up.

“Andrew McDonald will come in as interim coach and have a seat at that table, so I doubt you’ll be seeing any huge changes.”

Cummins said the lack of knowledge of some of his upcoming opponents makes for a refreshing change in an area of detailed analysis and research. “It’s one of the exciting things [about this series]: you know most international players, you know most international conditions. This series comes with perhaps a few more unknowns than normal,” he said.

“One thing with a Pakistan team is that you’ve always got a lot of young guys that come through and shine straight away. You’ve seen a lot of fast bowlers in recent years who have stood up, especially in white-ball cricket, so it’s a new challenge.

“Some batsmen we haven’t played against, so we’ve done a bit of research and we’ll look deeper as we get closer to the games.

“It’s going to be interesting.”

Also Read: Australia cricket team arrive for first Pakistan tour in 24 years

With under a week for the squad to acclimatise before the first Test begins on Friday, Cummins was quick to quash concerns the team’s late arrival will leave them under-prepared, citing a week-long training camp back in Melbourne as providing more than enough on its own.

“In terms of the preparation, we knew what the lead-in was going to be, so we thought we could achieve a lot of it back home,” Cummins said.

“We had a really good week in Melbourne, had some really good specific sessions. We had spinning wickets, we had reverse-swing bowling sessions.

“We feel really well-suited, one quick flight and we’re here and feeling fresh. It’s perhaps not as long as some other tours, but we think with four good days of training, we’ll be right.”

Cummins, alongside fellow quicks Hazlewood and Starc and batter David Warner, won’t be sticking around for the limited-overs portion of the tour, a move which drew the ire of former great Matthew Hayden.

Hayden accused the group of ‘cherry-picking’ when they represent their country, and called for them to receive pay cuts for withdrawing.

Cummins has defended the decision, citing it as necessary to ensure they remain mentally and physically sharp for a taxing 12 months, which includes tours of Sri Lanka and India and a home T20 World Cup.

“It’s a really packed schedule – we’re playing 15 days of Test cricket in the space of 20-odd days, and then going straight into three one-dayers,” he said.

“If that was played in Australia or anywhere else in the world, I don’t think you’d see the fast bowlers play them anyway. It’s too big a workload, in what we know is a 12-month assignment as an international cricketer.

“It’s just the nature of the schedule.”



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