Australia is all set to play against India in the World Test Championship (WTC) at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11.
After the Test match against India, Australia will play the Ashes series against England starting June 16 at Edgbaston.
Playing with England in a historic Ashes rivalry, skipper Pat Cummins wants to take the coveted trophy home as he only wants to focus on the WTC final for now.
Talking to the media on Saturday Cummins told, “We’ve got India in the World Test Championship final first, which I think a lot of people forgot”.
Australia underperformed in the Melbourne Test against India which made them lose a few points and kept them away from playing the WTC final in the inaugural edition.
“I think being new, it probably didn’t hit us until the game was actually played, and you saw over there [in England] New Zealand did well and you wish you were there,” Cummins said at the start of the Australian Test summer last year, as quoted by the Age.
“It feels like the second time around it’s got a little bit more on it. It felt like a big missed opportunity that first one. So it certainly gives a bit more context to every series now, something big to play for.”
Sharing his thoughts on WTC, the Australian captain said that the championship provides “global context” and something to compete for.
“The big series, say Ashes or India series where you play four or five Test matches, are obviously big battles, whereas the more common series where you play two or three in a series, it [the World Test Championship] gives them a bit more global context and something a bit extra to play for,” Cummins remarked.
Cummins said it wasn’t his team to work hard for this series as it hit them after they witnessed India and New Zealand competing in the final in Southampton two years ago.