It is India vs Australia and the stakes in this T20 World Cup clash are very high. On their mind must be the 2023 ODI World Cup final defeat, this time round a little having a slight edge as against the Aussies they face the pressure of must win game in ‘Super 8s’ match at St Lucia on Monday.
Australia suffered a 21 run defeat to Afghanistan in their ‘Super 8s’ fixture which jeopardises their chances of qualifying for semifinals. The thrilling contest has left Group1 wide open with no team already securing a place in top two for semi-final berth.
TimesofIndia.com caught up with the star Australian pacer Pat Cummins ahead of much anticipated match.
Excerpts…
How can you inspire your team members during difficult times?
I think knowing the guys really well gives you a sense of what people need at certain stages. And that’s not just me. It’s not always just on me. We’ve got some wonderful senior guys who, if they feel like the dressing room needs something, they’ll step up and lighten the mood or have a serious moment or whatever is needed. So it feels like, between the coaches and senior guys we can always self-adjust pretty well.
What would you say about Australia’s aggressive style of cricket?
I probably wouldn’t define Aussie brand of cricket to be honest rather would define team itself & how we want to go about it & that’s simply playing to our strengths whereby for some guys it’s being quite stoic taking their time, wearing down bowlers whereas other guys take game on from ball one putting pressure back on bowlers so everyone in our team does it slightly different but hopefully when it comes to Test cricket especially we’re relentless & having bit fun.
You were under no pressure even when playing before packed crowd at Ahmedabad during last year’s ODI World Cup final. How would you describe the journey to that title win?
Throughout that tourney there were a lot of different obstacles to overcome. Even leading into the tournament, we had four of our main guys injured and (they had) hardly played a game leading up to that first match. So it felt like we were kind of putting out fire the whole tournament. There were injuries that popped up at different levels, along with issues of form and selections.
That was all topped off in the final where even when things didn’t go right, we still managed to get through for some wins. I think that gave us a lot of confidence going into the final. We went in there with a sense of having nothing to lose and probably came together for our best game.”
What is your captain’s strategy and approach?
I tend to be a people person. Those are some of my very close friends so we have played together many times. Thus, I hope that I can build some good relations. In addition, they know that whatever else goes down on the planet, they have got me behind them almost always. It is our collective responsibility to produce certain unique results.
How do you view ‘The Test’ docu-series?
As seen with the first two series that were highly rated by cricket lovers as well as individuals who are not necessarily fans of cricket. So even people who don’t understand cricket or haven’t watched much of it get into cricket through this documentary. We feel an obligation in continuing to make these seasons. The fans love it and it attracts more people to the game which is always a positive thing.
