Sydney, Jan 5: Australian skipper Pat Cummins rates Virat Kohli as a great competitor who makes the game lively with his theatrics and he will be “sad” if the latest Border-Gavaskar trophy does end up being the Indian superstar’s last tour Down Under.
Following the hundred in the series opener, Kohli’s troubles outside the off-stump compounded as he was caught in the slip cordon eight times over the course of five Tests.
The tour that got over on Sunday is likely to be Kohli’s last.
“It’s always been a a wonderful contest. More than just the runs that he scored, he brings a bit of theatre to the game which is sometimes good and sometimes it can rile you up as an opposition, which I’m sure is part of his plans,” Cummins said in a response to a PTI query after the six wicket win here.
“Really enjoyed playing with him. You know, he’s been one of the the star batters for the last decade or so. You know, if you get his wicket it goes a long way to winning a game so yeah, it will be sad if it’s his last series.”
Cummins did admit that Bumrah’s absence on the final day of the series did help them, considering he took 32 wickets in the series. “Every time he (Bumrah) bowled he seemed to have an impact and took some key wickets. So yeah, no doubt that (his absence) helped our chase a little bit.”
Although he termed it as Indian team’s internal matter, Cummins was a touch surprised with Rohit Sharma’s decision to drop himself from the playing eleven on account of poor form.
“I think you’re always surprised when the captain kind of doesn’t play. And you know, same with Ashwin retiring, but honestly it doesn’t really affect us at all.
“You just turn up and you see who’s going to be on the team sheet and you play whoever eleven they put out there. Honestly, it’s been very little conversation I’ve chatted with him about what’s going on there,” Cummins said.
He termed the win against India as “huge” in the context of the Indo-Australia bilaterals, having lost twice at home previously.
“No, it’s a huge win in the context of this series. It’s as big a series as you get to play at home. It felt like it was kind of see-sawing throughout the whole series. So to finish it 3-1 to hold the trophy is an amazing feeling,” Cummins said.
“…… and I think the extra layer is now securing a spot in the World Test Championship Final which was always a huge goal for us in this cycle.”
He has been a part of T20 World Cup winning squad, won the 50-over World Cup, World Test Championship mace and Ashes as the skipper and now the India series that his predecessor Tim Paine had lost twice.
When he was asked if he has any succession plan in place, he sidestepped the issue.
“First of all I just absolutely love what I do. So, I mean that’s probably the biggest driver in wanting to play Test Cricket and work with this team and support staff.”
So does he feel that he has done it all?
“Unfortunately, I have got to keep playing. We’ll stay on this side guys and then we’ll come over here,” he smiled and everyone laughed. (PTI)
