Australia captain Pat Cummins said he didn’t mind staying a bit undercooked going into the high-octane WTC final against India rather than playing two months of T20 cricket and landing up jaded for a gruelling English summer.
Asked if the bulk of the Australian side would be a bit rusty with virtually no game time since the India series, the skipper on Sunday begged to differ.
“Breaks are rare to come by,” said the modern-day great, who has 217 Test wickets from 49 games.
“I have always said, with six Test matches [including five in the Ashes], it is better to be slightly underdone than overdone. I am talking from a bower’s point of view. So I want to be physically fresh.”
“Back home, we did a lot of training. We have trained hard, [become] rejuvenated and refreshed and are keen,” said the Australian skipper. Terming the track as a good one with a lot of bounce, Cummins is confident that his team has enough bowlers to exploit the conditions.
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"You need to know your moments to push for wickets. We need to get 20 wickets and there is no point trying everything in the first innings. We have plenty of bowlers to be used at different times," Cummins said.
However, Australia has a dismal record of only two wins in the last 50 years in Tests at the Oval, and their overall win percentage at the ground is a mere 14%.
“Our playing group hasn’t played too many of those 50 Tests. We have played a few Ashes games, most of us. Few guys have scored runs and bowlers have had some pace and bounce. So it should be good,” the skipper said.
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Asked to reflect on the journey to the WTC final, Cummins felt that his team has really turned the corner during this cycle after missing the bus last time. "That [missing the final last edition] has been the driving force behind the team and we deserve to play the final," he said.
He said that if asked to name a side that gave them the maximum push, it would haveto be the Indian team, which has won back-to-back series Down Under.
“I think at home we have been pretty formidable and only [been beaten] by Rohit’s team [Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane’s team) in the last couple of tours.... we have been troubled. Everyone is hitting their grooves and some are at the back [end] of [their] careers and at top of their games,” Cummins said.
