Australia cricket team skipper Pat Cummins is likely to play one or two Sheffield Shield matches in order to prepare for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India. The all-rounder revealed that he will play at the start of November, right before the series against India.
Cummins is the latest to turn to domestic cricket in order to prepare for Tests following the Indian players who have been asked to do the same by the selectors.
Pat Cummins to gear up for India Tests with domestic cricket
Speaking to reporters, Pat Cummins stated that coach Andrew McDonald wanted to have a conversation about the same with the skipper. The all-rounder said that apart from 2-3 ODIs, he would most likely play a game or two of Shield, with a short stint for NSW.
“So I’d say it’s either two or three ODIs, plus a Shield [game] or maybe just some Shield, maybe some NSW one-day stuff. I imagine kind of late October/early November will be when I start playing building up for the Tests,” Pat Cummins said.
After finishing his stint at the MLC, Cummins has been rested from the white-ball tour against Scotland. Instead, he has been given the time to start preparing for the IND vs AUS series.
Australia have seven Tests in hand which will determine their chances of playing the World Test Championship final next year. The challenge starts off with a gruelling five-match series against India in November. Then, Australia will take on Sri Lanka in a two-match tour, their last series before the WTC final.
Cummins, who had a good 2023, will have to be in top form in order for Australia to make it to the finals. Currently, Australia are second in the points table, just behind India.
