Putting an end to the chatter around David Warner’s offer of coming out of retirement for the five-match Test series against India for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, Australia skipper Pat Cummins turned down the possibility, and made it clear that the team is not considering the legendary opener.
Warner, who played his last Test match against Pakistan in Sydney in January has offered to come out of retirement to help the side if need be but Cummins indicated that the team has moved on.
“Dave we are very interested, we’re taking it very seriously and we’ll be in touch, mate just watch that phone,” said Cummins in jest before adding, “Uh, we love Davey (Warner) but he’s retired, sorry,” the Aussie captain said on The Grade Cricketer Podcast.
“I did speak to Dave a couple of days ago. I can’t remember if he reached out or I did. He’s like, what do you think? and I was like, “Yeah, good luck with (Sydney) Thunder and I look forward to your comments on Fox,” Cummins said.
The highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy this year will kickstart with the first Test at Perth from November 22. This series will be critical for both sides’ chances for an ICC World Test Championship final appearance but more for the Kangaroos, as they will be hoping to prevent a hat-trick of series losses to India at their home.
On being probed about the amount of grass he would like to see on the pitches for the crucial series, Cummins said that if he had his way, he would welcome India with green tops to make life difficult for the visitors.
“I wish if I had it my way I would be looking like those bushes behind you. Unfortunately, I don’t have any say (on the preparation of wickets), so we’ll wait and see,” he said.
Loss in 2018-19 series more hurtful than 2020-21 defeat to India
Drawing comparisons to the two previous series losses to India at home, Cummins picked the 2018-19 series loss as more hurtful than the 2020-21 debacle under his captaincy. India, under Virat Kohli, defeated Australia 2-1 in the 2018-19 rubber with the skipper and Cheteshwar Pujara playing a pivotal role in the historic triumph against the Tim Paine-led side.
During the 2020-2021 series, an almost second-string Indian side, due to injuries to key players, managed to bag the series 2-1, defeating the hosts at their stronghold Gabba for the first time in a Test match in 32 years.
“I actually thought the series before (2018-19) was worse because we got completely beaten whereas that series (in 2020-21) was quite (keenly) fought. I thought they (India) played fantastically well to win at the Gabba,” Cummins said.
“That (defeat) was annoying but I felt like the series before, where we were completely outplayed, that would hurt more for me,” he added.