It is rare in Australian cricket circles, more so for active cricketers, but India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah’s demolition act of Australia with match figures of 8 for 72, earned him well-deserved praise from his opponent Pat Cummins, terming the right-arm quick as “one of the best in the world”.
“I thought he bowled really well. He’s one of the best in the world. He’s always going to be a challenge, so we got to come up with ways to combat that. I thought particularly that Day 1, his spell, the spell from the Indian guys, made it tricky for our team to navigate through. He bowled well through the game, like he does in most games,” Cummins said in the post-match presser.
Cummins also reflected on the defeat but chose not to go into specifics of what went wrong.
“I think there were a fair few things [that went wrong for Australia]. [Getting India all out for] 150 placed us quite well. Obviously, the game sped up that night on Day 1, they bowled terrifically well and put a dent into us,” he said.
“Once the pitch started to slow down a little bit, obviously we weren’t well placed back out on the field and couldn’t get the breakthroughs. I thought they played really well. Just not much went our way this game,” he added.
Australia’s top-order batting has come under scrutiny in the wake of the 295-run defeat, with the team being bowled out for 105 and 238 in their two innings. Marnus Labuschagne, in particular, has faced questions about his recent form after registering single-digit scores of 2 and 3 in the match.
His performance has been inconsistent lately, with an average of just 31.75 in 19 matches since 2023, a sharp decline from his career average of 48.45.
Cummins, however, refused to throw the 30-year-old under the bus, offering his full support and backing Labuschagne to bounce back strongly in the series.
“Marnus along with quite a few guys in the team didn’t have the week we would have wanted. It’s no secret how hard the batters, particularly Marn, works in the nets. He’s always trying to find those small marginal gains. This week will be a lot of conversation with the coaches around his approach and what he could be doing differently,” Cummins said.
“We know he’s a class player, he at his best is one of the scariest propositions for opposition bowlers to bowl at. We’ll get to Adelaide a little bit earlier and maybe do an extra day or two prep leading into that second Test.”
“He’s done it before over there, he’s got a very good pink-ball record, so I always think looking back at past successes when you were at your best is always a pretty good way to get yourself back on track,” he added.
Cummins also revealed all-rounder and local lad Mitchell Marsh has pulled up sore after bowling just 17 overs in Perth. “He’s battling a couple of little niggles since the UK tour. The main thing is he’s in there as one of the top six batters in the country and bowling is a bonus.”
“He was a little bit sore towards the end of this Test match. Again, in the next 10 days, a chance to freshen up and try and get it right. We’ll see how he goes. Ideally, he would be able to bowl in each Test match.”
The action now shifts to Adelaide for the Day-Night pink-ball Test, starting December 6. Despite the heavy defeat, Cummins rallied belief in the team, indicating that they would not be making wholesale changes and were confident in their ability to bounce back.
“I think after a Test you look at what you think your best match-up is. This is a sample size of one,” he said.
“Four or five days ago we thought this was our best XI. So I dare say … There won’t be many changes going into Adelaide, but I’m not a selector. I’m sure they’ll get together after the game. We (have) got a bit of work to do over the next 10 days,” he added.