The Australian skipper, Pat Cummins was at his absolute best against Pakistan where he helped his side secure the Benaud-Qadir Trophy. On Day 4, the captain proved to everyone why he deserves to be up there among the many Australian greats that have come through as he closes what has been a dominant year as a captain.
Even Hazlewood was awestruck by his skipper’s ruthless performance in the final phase of the Test to pick up the most crucial wickets in the opposition’s batting order.
Cummins led from the front as he got the two wickets of the opener Imam-ul-Haq and the Pakistan skipper, Shan Masood who looked to be in good touch after bringing up his half-century and dragging Pakistan towards a significant chance of registering a win.
READ MORE: ‘It’s the Team Who Wins at the End’: Pat Cummins Reacts to Mohammad Hafeez’s ‘Pakistan Played Better’ Comment
On any other day, all the spotlight would have been on Josh Hazlewood who managed to bowl 24 dot deliveries consecutively after which he got the big wicket of Babar Azam to put Australia in front.
Hazlewood himself admitted, “Patty is just head and shoulders above (the rest). He is the full package. He does it every day, every spell,” when he spoke to ABC Grandstand
Cummins went on to continue his stellar Test with the ball where he picked up the wickets of Rizwan, Salman, Afridi, and Jamal to close out the Test with his second fifer of the match making it a 10-wicket haul to secure the series 2-0.
READ MORE: Watch: Australia Score Five Runs in One Ball Without Hitting a Boundary
Australian legend Adam Gilchrist also recalled Cummins’s time as the skipper, he spoke to Fox Cricket’s podcast The Follow On, “We forget because Pat is so good at so many things, the burden and the workload that has been placed on those shoulders”
Looking back at the time Cummins was handed the role of captaining the Australian side, it was an uncertain period for Australian Cricket after Tim Paine’s resignation as the captain following the sexting scandal.
Cummins did not have too much experience with captaincy having only done it on a few occasions in the Marsh Cup. But he managed to work things out with time and now is among the greats of the sport.
Cummins’s time as captain was not an easy one. From being accused of being involved in Justin Langer’s exit as the coach to the criticism his side received after Alex Carey stumped Bairstow in the Ashes, the skipper has come out of these situations most gracefully.
Pat is no ‘Mr Nice Guy,’ more importantly, he is a winner and during his leadership, the Australian side has witnessed one of the most dominant periods across formats. The Ashes urn, WTC mace, recently the ODI World Cup and now the Benaud-Qadir Trophy to close out what has been a dominating year for Cummins and Cricket Australia.
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