Australian captain is not worried about the cyclone threat brewing in the Bay of Bengal, which could disrupt their semifinal encounter against South Africa.
The lights flickered for a second as Australia skipper Pat Cummins was addressing a press conference before the high-voltage semifinal match against South Africa at Eden Gardens. Cummins, however, remained unperturbed, perfectly encapsulating the calmness that he brings to this Australian team.
The 30-year-old will be hoping to carry forth the legacy of the past World Cup winning captains like Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, against a South African side which had beaten them comprehensively in the league stage. Cummins, though, exuded a quiet confidence on Wednesday.
“You look back at some of the great Aussie sides and see that they’ve won the World Cup. So, yeah that’s what drives you to win World Cups. Yeah, to be captain of this side, if we won, I just feel like a huge privilege. Yeah, I’ve loved it. It’s a great bunch of lads and yeah, it’d be pretty cool. I think,” he said.
A fresh-faced Cummins was in the Australian World Cup side that had won the 2015 edition of the tournament at home but did not make it into the playing XI. This time around, as he tries to replicate the feat as captain, he was asked if that was an extra motivating factor.
“Absolutely. I still say that the 2015 World Cup was my career highlight and I wasn’t playing but it was just the most magical moment. MCG packed house, the whole of Australia behind us, winning a World Cup which is rare. You only get a chance every four years so – yeah,” he said.
The Kolkata weather might play a part in the match against South Africa with a cyclone forming over the Bay of Bengal with the encounter likely to face some rain disruptions, as per experts. Cummins, meanwhile, appeared less than worried about it.
“Yeah, I had a bit of a look at the weather. It’s always kind of hard to judge. It seems to change a little bit and one website tells you something and another one tells you the opposite. So yeah, I guess it’s something to think about but I mean you can’t forward plan too much with the weather. So yeah, we’ll turn up, expect to play a 50 over match tomorrow, any of that shifts on us well – I’m sure in real time we can kind of adjust as needed,” he remarked.
The Westmead-born cricketer had been a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the 2014-15 season as well as the 2020-22 seasons, which one might think will give him the advantage of playing in familiar conditions but as the skipper himself said, he hadn’t really played that much in the ground due to a myriad of reasons.
“I’ve been asked that by a few other boys this week and I feel like I’ve hardly played here. I think I’ve played one IPL game here and then obviously the last few years we’ve been in Dubai or Mumbai or different places for IPL. So, yeah, I’d love to claim that but yeah, I’ve played here as much as a lot of the other guys, which is mainly Australian ODIs and yeah, the odd IPL game,” he said.
Source:indianexpress.com