NEWS
Follow UsA legend of Test cricket and a proper enforcer in ODIs, Pat Cummins didn’t arrive at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 with full force but managed to bring him back soon after, with a solid performance against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Netherlands. But his overall performance is still far from the best, with the skipper averaging 35.33 with an economy rate of 6.26 in the ongoing World Cup.
Is he satisfied with the way he has bowled so far? Cummins certainly believes so while adding that the last two games were the best he had bowled in a while in the 50-over cricket.
“I've been really happy with how I've been bowling. I feel like I've probably been bowling the best I have for a little while in the ODI cricket. So, and in terms of economy rates, we're really role-specific, so a Josh Hazel is going to look different to me or to Starkey, to Adam Zampa,” Cummins said ahead of the New Zealand clash in Dharamsala.
“It's just about having your role and trying to own that. So, for example, we could try and be really safe through the middle, but we're not going to take wickets where they're probably going to score runs at the back end. So, we're always all about wickets at the start and the middle and happy to give up a few runs in search of that.”
An absolute ODI World Cup legend, Mitchell Starc hasn’t been at his very best this World Cup, having picked up his seven wickets at an average of 30.6. What will inspire the Aussies, though, is the fact that Starc has picked up 13 wickets, averaging 5.7 against the Kiwis in the World Cup - something Cummins hopes that Starc would bring to the table.
“I think in 50 over cricket, there's the new ball, the middle phase, and the last phase, and it's pretty hard to nail all three, but I think he's one of the rare bowlers that swings it up front, but you can basically give him the ball at any time, and you feel like he's going to create something and again.
“I think he just keeps getting better and better. He's wobbling the ball across right-handers, he's bowling round the wicket probably more than he did in, say, 2015, he's got plenty of tools at his disposal, and, amazingly, he's been able to keep up the pace for that long as well,” Cummins added.
Amongst all the venues in the World Cup, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharmashala has the third-worst run rate (5.4). It is the only venue in the World Cup where the batting average has been below 30. The average first innings at the venue has been only 260, with pacers picking up 68.8% of the wickets (44). That would alert Josh Hazlewood, who has been in a middling World Cup run so far.
“I mean, he's [Hazlewood] been consistent his whole career; he's been a gun. So, I don't think him being predictable has ever been a problem. He's, I think, even in some of those times when he wasn't in the team, was ranked number one or two in the world. So, he's fantastic. He's another one who I think now can bowl at any time. But you're going to get quality up front and, as you said, consistent. Just rarely gets hit off his length and just yeah again, another real luxury having someone like him in the team,” Cummins said of his bowling partner.
