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Follow UsNovember 2021: Wins the T20 World Cup
Pat Cummins was a part of the Australian squad that won the 2015 ODI World Cup at home, but there, he was only a fringe member as he played just 2/8 matches in the tournament. His first proper ICC Trophy, hence, came in the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE.
In terms of his overall performance, Cummins had a good but not great tournament — 5 wickets @ 7.37 ER — but like he always does, he came clutch when it mattered the most.
Across the semi-final and the final, the right-armer registered figures of 8-0-57-1, which is an economy of 7.10 when the overall scoring rate across the two games was 8.94.
His three-run 19th over against Pakistan, when the 17th and 18th overs had combinedly gone for 36 runs, was integral to the Aussies winning the semi-final and eventually going on to lift the trophy.
November 2021: Gets named Australia’s full-time Test skipper
Later in the same month, Cummins was named Australia’s full-time Test skipper. It was a historic decision in itself, for Cummins became the first ever fast bowler to be appointed the full-time captain of Australia in the country’s 144-year cricket history.
Prior to his appointment, Ray Lindwall had been the only quick to lead the Aussies, that too on a temporary, one-off basis back in 1956.
January 2022: Leads Australia to 4-0 victory in The Ashes
In his first series as captain, Cummins led Australia to a thumping 4-0 victory over arch-rivals England to ensure that the urn stayed Down Under. The result would have been 5-0 had rain not taken time away from the hosts in the fourth Test in Sydney.
In The Ashes, he not only proved himself as a sound leader, but also put to bed fears that captaincy could affect his bowling. Despite playing only 4/5 Tests in the series, Cummins finished as the highest wicket-taker, taking 21 wickets @ 18.04 a piece.
March 2022: Helps Australia break their duck in the subcontinent
Heading into the three-Test series in Pakistan, Australia hadn’t won a single Test series in the subcontinent (Sri Lanka / India / Bangladesh / UAE) in 11 years. They’d also lost each of their last two away series against Pakistan, albeit in the UAE.
Under Cummins, in March 2022, Australia broke this duck as they won a hard-fought three-Test series against Pakistan 1-0.
Once again, Cummins led from the front. In a series which proved to be a graveyard for the bowlers, he finished as the joint highest wicket-taker (12) and remarkably averaged 22.5. After draws in the first two Tests, Cummins’ 8-wicket match haul set up victory for the visitors in the third Test in Lahore.
October 2022: Gets named Australia’s full-time ODI skipper
On the back of Aaron Finch’s retirement, Cricket Australia (CA) appointed Cummins as the side’s full-time ODI skipper as well. Initially, though, the move did not go down too well with a section of fans, who believed Steve Smith should have succeeded Finch.
June 2023: Wins the World Test Championship as captain
Prior to the World Test Championship final (WTC) against India in June, the WTC mace remained the only ICC Trophy that Australia had never got their hands on.
Inevitably enough, Cummins ensured that was no longer the case as he led Australia to a thumping 209-run victory over India at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s.
By this point, Cummins had already started to put together an enviable CV as skipper: 4-0 Ashes win at home, away series win in Pakistan, home series win vs South Africa, WTC title.
July 2023: Retains the urn away in England
Heading into the 2023 Ashes, Australia hadn’t retained the urn away in England for two consecutive away Ashes series since 1997 & 2001.
After a drawn series in 2019, the Kangaroos weren’t able to go one better in 2023 but still ended up retaining the urn in what was one of the most closely contested Ashes series this century.
2-0 up after two Tests, Australia looked primed to secure a historic win in England but the hosts bounced back in emphatic fashion.
But under Cummins, Australia still ensured that they took the urn back home safely. The skipper had a big part to play in that — we’ll get to that part later.
November 2023: Wins the ODI World Cup in front of 130,000 away supporters
As mentioned earlier, CA’s decision to appoint Cummins as ODI skipper did not go down too well with a section of fans. And this loud minority got louder and expressed their dissatisfaction over the move after Australia began their 2023 World Cup campaign with two losses.
In the eyes of many, Australia’s campaign was close to being a write-off after back-to-back losses. However, against the odds, the Kangaroos won eight on the bounce to waltz their way into the final.
Against a red-hot Indian unit, the Aussies still entered the final as heavy underdogs, but they produced one of the greatest final performances seen in Cricket World Cup (CWC) history to clinch their sixth World Cup title.
The victory in the final was enabled by the brilliance of both Cummins the captain and Cummins the bowler, who led his troops with elan and was absolutely unfazed in a hostile environment.
Australia have won six World Cups to date but their victory in Ahmedabad last year is unanimously being accepted as the Kangaroos’ greatest ever World Cup triumph.
January 2024: Gets named the ICC Cricketer of the Year (2023)
January witnessed Cummins get some much-deserved recognition for his efforts as he was named the ICC Cricketer of the Year (for 2023). He was also named the captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year.
March 2024: Ends New Zealand’s unbeaten streak at home in Tests
New Zealand, for over two decades, have had a mental block of sorts against Australia but still entered the two-Test series against their arch-rivals with an enviable record at home, having not lost a single Test series at home since early 2017. In fact, heading into the two-Test series, the Kiwis had been unbeaten in each of their previous 11 Test series at home.
Enter Pat Cummins’ Australia.
They came, They saw. They conquered. A 2-0 whitewash and New Zealand’s streak at home came to an end, just like that.
And surprise surprise, it was once again Cummins who came clutch and helped his side land the decisive blow.
Coming up clutch: when Captain Cummins stepped up with his side’s back against the wall
8/79 in Lahore to help Australia win 1-0 in Pakistan
On the back of an excruciating draw in Karachi, in which Pakistan batted 171.4 overs in the second innings, it seemed like Australia’s opportunity to win a Test series in Pakistan had come and gone. The prospect of them winning the third and final Test in Lahore to win the series, after a soul-crushing draw in the second Test, seemed highly unlikely. Not least because manufacturing results on dead wickets seemed like an impossible task.
That is when Cummins took it upon himself to bowl the Aussies to a famous series win.
On a flat (but not overly docile) Lahore wicket, Cummins took a 5-fer in the first innings to help Australia take a 133-run first innings lead, and then backed it up with a match-winning three-fer on the final day, in which he took the decisive wickets of Mohammed Rizwan and Fawad Alam in a burst that tilted the contest fully in Australia’s favour.
Fittingly, Cummins took the final wicket — that of Naseem Shah — to seal the famous series win.
4/63 and 44* at Edgbaston (2nd innings) to help Australia go 1-0 up in The Ashes
As an Aussie skipper, the easiest way to turn yourself into a legend overnight is to produce a Hall of Fame showing against arch-rivals England in their own backyard. That is precisely what Cummins did in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston last year.
He first set-up victory for his side with the ball, taking 4/63 in England’s second innings. With the wicket still flat, England threatened to steamroll the Aussies multiple times but Cummins kept hitting back. He finished with four wickets to his name, including the huge one of Ben Stokes, to keep the target to a chasable 281.
With the bat, though, the game seemed to have slipped completely out of Australia’s hands at 227/8, with the visitors still needing 54 runs to win with just two wickets in hand. Light was fading but England taking a 1-0 lead in the series looked like a mere formality.
However, from this point, Cummins produced the best batting performance of his career to take the Aussies over the line against all odds. In one of the most nerveless displays of batting in recent history, the skipper struck an unbeaten 44 and stitched together a 52-run stand with Nathan Lyon to stun England.
The victory helped Australia bury the ghosts of Edgbaston 2005 after 18 years, incidentally at the very same venue.
12* off 68 vs Afghanistan at Wankhede (2023 World Cup)
After two defeats, Australia won five on the bounce to get back into contention for the semis but at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, they were in a serious spot of bother against Afghanistan, teetering at 91/7, chasing 292. A defeat would not have meant the end of the world but it would have put them in an extremely precarious position heading into their final two group games.
Even with Glenn Maxwell out in the middle, pretty much no one gave the Aussies a chance at 91/7. However, Cummins ended up stitching together a historic 202-run stand with the big-hitting Victorian to help the Kangaroos pull off arguably the most improbable victory in World Cup history.
On the night, Cummins added just 12 runs with the bat, but his contribution extended beyond runs. More than the runs, it was his sheer presence and determination that downed Afghanistan. He completely curbed his natural instincts, and did everything within his power to stay out there and support Maxwell, who was in the midst of the greatest innings of his career.
He also played a big part in keeping Maxwell ticking; taking the pressure off his partner by reassuring him.
The tactic worked, and the upshot was that Australia ended up pulling off one of the greatest heists seen in the sport.
14* vs South Africa in the semi-final at Eden Gardens (2023 World Cup)
By the time the semi-finals arrived, Cummins had almost made a habit of guiding the side through tricky situations with the bat.
Come the SF, fate presented the skipper with yet another slippery slope: Australia needed 20 more runs to progress to the final with 3 wickets in hand. But the catch was that this was on a rank-turner against a blood-thirsty bowling unit.
Those on the bench could not bear to watch, but Cummins once again did the needful and took his side over the line nervelessly.
And just like he did in The Ashes, he brought up victory for the side with a thumping slap through point.
2/34 vs India in Ahmedabad (World Cup Final)
After two clutch showings against Afghanistan and South Africa, Cummins saved his best showing of the competition for the final against India — from both a bowling and captaincy perspective.
After winning the toss and taking the brave decision of bowling first, Cummins led from the front, producing one of the finest showings with the ball in a final ever. On a sluggish Ahmedabad wicket, he tormented the Indian batters with back-of-a-length deliveries that angled into the right-handers. Despite being a fast-medium bowler, he bowled to an off-spinner’s field and nailed it to perfection.
Eventually, he ended up getting the big scalp of all, that of Virat Kohli.
On the eve of the final, Cummins said that Australia would look to silence the 100,000+ crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
He and his troops did just that on the day of the final as they lifted the trophy for the sixth time in their history.
4/62 and 32* vs New Zealand in Christchurch
After taking a 4-fer and hitting the winning runs at Edgbaston in 2023, Cummins did the exact same thing in Christchurch last week to end New Zealand’s unbeaten run at home.
Australia took a 94-run lead in the first innings but New Zealand cut off the deficit easily and had a 17-run lead in their second innings with all their big guns still intact.
They eventually reached 372, setting Australia a target of 279. That they *only* posted 372 was due to Cummins, who removed every single big fish — Tom Latham (73), Kane Williamson (51) and Rachin Ravindra (82). Cummins, by the way, in Christchurch, became the first bowler in four years to dismiss Williamson between 50 and 100.
In the fourth innings, at 220/5, Australia looked primed to knock down the target comfortably but then lost two wickets in two balls to get reduced to 220/7.
Suddenly, it was on Cummins to do a mix of Edgbaston and Wankhede (albeit with Alex Carey) to take the side home.
Of course, Cummins ended up doing just that. He entered with his side under extreme pressure, but he did not give the Kiwi bowlers a sniff. He posted 32* and stitched an unbeaten 61-run stand with Carey (98*) to help Australia seal the series 2-0.
Fittingly, it was the skipper who hit the winning runs, just like he did at Edgbaston.
