Cummins’ hostile spell blueprint for success in India

NEWDELHI: Mitchell Starc’s injury before the Ranchi Test opened the doors for Pat Cummins to play his first Test for six years. Finally, his time to don the Baggy Green again had come after his debut in 2011 as a teenager against South Africa in Johannesburg, where he impressed with a haul of 6/79 to help Australia achieve victory.

Cummins’ career is a story of injuries, more injuries and question marks on whether his body was equipped for the rigours of Test cricket. However, after 25 overs and a haul of 4/59, Cummins has overcome all the frustration of the last six years.

His exhibition of bowling on Day 2 and 3 of the Ranchi Test has been sensational. After a rusty first over, the 23-year-old showed glimpses of what was to come when he hustled opener KL Rahul with a slow bouncer that reared sharply. On a pitch not providing plenty of assistance, Cummins’ combination of extra pace, hitting the deck hard and using variations was the catalyst for checking India’s progress.

After regularly beating Rahul with the leg-cutter, Cummins forced him to fend a bouncer, and glove a catch. It gave the Australian pacer his first wicket after 1,944 days. On Day 3, Cummins took the second new ball and struck with the third delivery, tempting Virat Kohli with a full and wide delivery outside offstump. The Indian skipper edged it to second slip, departing for his fifth low score in this series.

He exploited the pitch and troubled Ajinkya Rahane by varying the length. In addition to the clever change of pace and bouncers, he also found reverse swing and made life difficult for R Ashwin. Persistence pays and he got Ashwin to fend a bouncer, claiming his fourth wicket.