High-speed Pat

Cummins for Himalayas Test

CRICKET IT took Pat Cummins six years to play his second Test match, but after only five days rest he will be unleashed to play his third — at high altitude to spearhead Australia’s date with destiny in the Himalayas.

No one quite knows what the mystery of the mountains will hold, but there is speculation from the Australian and India camps that the wicket on which the Border Gavaskar Trophy will be decided could be tailor-made for Cummins’ express pace.

India is set to add a third fast bowler Mohammed Shami to its squad to highlight the role pace could play in the fourth Test and, however unlikely, there is an outside possibility Jackson Bird may get a look in for Australia.

Test great Shane Warne has tweeted his confidence that Dharamsala’s elevated conditions could clinch history for Steve Smith’s men.

“I really think the Aussies can now win this series as Dharamsala will suit their style,” Warne said.

After encountering poor surfaces in Pune and Bangalore and a dead wicket in Ranchi, Australia is undaunted by what the journey to the foot of the Himalayas will bring.

Locals say they expect the Dharamsala wicket to stay low, but at 1457m above sea level, if there’s one man who can generate altitude sickness it’s 150km/h Cummins.

“I think it gives the squad a massive amount of confidence, knowing we can go in and assess the pitch as quickly as we can and then play our game from there,” one of the heroes Coach: of Ranchi, Peter Handscomb, said yesterday.

“Obviously we did that well in Pune and we’ve had two different types of wickets again in Bangalore and Ranchi. So if we can assess the conditions as quickly as possible and go from there I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Cummins, 23, has never played back-to-back Test matches and when India kept Australia in the field for two and a half days there were concerns about how he would cope with the workload spike after only limited preparation.