(Credit ICC)
Pat Cummins, Australia’s leading fast bowler, believes his T20 performance is currently at its pinnacle over the past ten years, buoyed by his successful stint in the Indian Premier League. As he gears up for the World Cup, he exudes confidence.
Cummins arrived in Bridgetown on Saturday, just before the World Cup commences. His entry into the tournament follows a busy Indian Premier League season, during which he captained the Sunrisers Hyderabad to a runner-up position.
“Probably as well as I have for the last 10 years really,” Cummins told cricket.com.au of his T20 bowling.
Despite lacking prior experience in the Caribbean, the Australian Test and ODI captain participated in his inaugural training session in the West Indies on Monday. However, Cummins remains self-assured about his readiness for the World Cup, given his consistent involvement in T20 cricket since March, notably in the IPL.
“We played 17 games straight . For the most part, international T20s are after the Test series, and you’ve got to try and hit a yorker or a slower ball, and then go back to a Test series,” Cummins said.
“So just getting the pace of the game and executing some of those balls that you need more in T20 cricket than in other formats, I feel really well placed.”
Cummins believes that maintaining consistency within the same format notably affects the strategic aspects of bowling.
A lot of T20 bowling in particular is about thinking through your sequencing of which ball to bowl or when, and I think over the course of the season you get to learn pretty quickly what’s working and what isn’t,” he said.
“Even if it doesn’t work first game, and you feel like it’s never going to work every game, but you know that if you zoom out over the course of the tournament it’s going to work for you. So it’s nice coming in here with that confidence.”
