Bowler, leader, finisher: A Pat for every situation
KOLKATA: This is how life has panned out for Pat Cummins over the past six months: elevated to Australia’s Test captaincy in the wake of Tim Paine’s resignation, missed the next Test after being deemed a Covid-19 close contact, came back to lead the side to a thumping 4-0 home Ashes win, stood up for his mates while copping bad press and a wave of backlash from former players accusing him of orchestrating Justin Langer’s resignation as coach, conjured reverse swing on lifeless pitches to navigate Australia to a last-hour series win in Pakistan, spent three days in quarantine upon reaching Mumbai and then blasted his way to the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history.
It takes a lot to stun Rohit Sharma in the IPL but Wednesday’s knock was so numbing that even KKR captain Shreyas Iyer couldn’t shake it off at first. “Because yesterday in the nets,” Shreyas shared right after the match, “he was getting bowled now and then; I was batting in the nets beside him.”
No strategy can explain an innings of this intensity because, honestly, where was the need for it? KKR required 35 from 30 balls and Venkatesh Iyer was playing the anchor role. All Cummins needed to do was stay put. But he finished the game in one over.
Any amount of incredulousness still attached to this innings probably stems from the fact that Cummins isn’t a recognised allrounder. But perhaps that’s what frees him from expectation. There may not be an encore and the world would still be okay with it. So as long as Cummins was in it, he wasn’t going to betray his senses.
“The plan was mainly for me to be the shot player,” Cummins said later. “Venky was batting well and I wanted to get a couple away to make his job a little easy. I knew they would try and bowl outside off so I wanted to get across and target the short boundaries specifically.”
If the past six months has taught us anything, it’s that Cummins knows which battles to pick. Like the time he knew he had to speak up for his mates. Earlier this year, as dust settled on Langer’s future as coach—a thoroughly messy affair involving allegations, rants, rumours and prolonged periods of mysterious silence on the part of the administration— Cummins finally read out a statement. “To all past players, I want to say this: Just as you have always stuck up for your mates, I’m sticking up for mine.” Like with the bat on Wednesday, Cummins didn’t beat around the bush then. But Cummins did what he had to do.
Like in Pakistan, where confronted with PCB-orchestrated dead pitches in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore, Cummins waited for the right moment. A blink of a chance popped in Karachi when Pakistan were bowled out for 148 in response to Australia’s 556/9 decl but Cummins didn’t enforce the follow-on. Next Test, on a slightly better pitch, he scythed through Pakistan’s batting in the first innings with a five-wicket haul, taking another three in the second to wrest a fine win.
These are milestone moments as a player, more so when you are a fast bowler, captain and de facto ambassador of a nation trying to normalise the concept of touring Pakistan after staying away for 24 years.
And when the same person— sort of a format specialist, mind you (he last played an ODI in 2020 though Cummins continues to play T20Is)—scores 35 in a single over in the IPL, you are forced to sit up and take notice. You realise Cummins is a rare gifted athlete acutely aware of his responsibilities but also not willing to get overwhelmed by it. Leader and strike bowler of a Test team, fast bowler in a T20I setup and near-allrounder in another—he moulds himself effortlessly to cater to every task.