Last Update: January 12, 2023, 09:42 AM IST
Pat Cummins’ Australia recently beat West Indies and South Africa in back-to-back Test series at home. (AFP photo)
Australia last won a Test series in India in 2004 and will be hoping to end their long wait this time
In-form Australia face a huge challenge with only a few weeks left before resuming Test duty against them India next month. Not only have Australia not won a Test series in India since 2004, but they have also suffered consecutive series defeats at home, while they dominate other opponents.
More recently, they made a home summer to remember with a 2–0 clean sweep of the West Indies and then a 2–0 thrashing of South Africa (the third Test ended in a draw). After almost a month’s rest, the Pat Cummins-led team will embark on their tour of India during which they will play four Tests for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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Cummins revealed in an Amazon documentary titled ‘The Test’ that he is taking inspiration from the Class of 2004, led by Adam Gilchrist, which beat India 2-1.
“They won in India, they won in England. “That Test team (of 2004), no matter where they (go) in the world, they could adapt. That’s the gold standard. That’s what you want.”
The documentary premiered on Prime Video this week, and follows the successes and failures of Cummins’ team since he took over as Test captain during last year’s Ashes series at home until the tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Cummins highlighted how Australia are planning to conquer the challenging subcontinent conditions where the new ball does ‘nothing’.
“In Australia, you field with the new ball, try and make the most of it. In the subcontinent, it is the opposite. The new ball does nothing, so you field the ball to stop it from hitting the bat and then you hope it starts turning. Then you sense an opportunity, and that’s when you go ‘voom’,” he said.
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The documentary also talks about the Australian team’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2016, during which they were clean swept 3-0.
Test opener Usman Khawaja recalled how Australia started well but then let things get out of hand. Khawaja said, ‘I thought we had the right game plan for the first Test and we probably should have won it.’
“The process and everything we were doing was right. But then when we lost that (first) game, we started second-guessing ourselves and we had three different teams for three different games. The plans were there. And I think we have to be really strong in our belief to go with the plan that is the right plan that we have the first time.”
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