'Keep Them Quiet': Pat Cummins Issues Stern Warning To India Ahead Of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Photo : AP
Australia skipper Pat Cummins has said that his team's job will be to try and keep the visiting Indian side 'quiet', going back to his old anecdote of silencing the Ahmedabad crowd in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. He added that India's surprising series defeat to New Zealand at home will mean that his team starts with a mental edge in the big-ticket tie.
India, under ace batter Virat Kohli, beat Australia 2-1 in the 2018-19 rubber with the captain and Cheteshwar Pujara playing a pivotal role in the historic win against the Tim Paine-led team. They repeated the feat in 2020-21, with Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj playing crucial roles in eking out a memorable victory.
In the last series, a depleted Indian team stunned the Aussies, beating the hosts at their stronghold Gabba for the first time in a Test in over three decades.
"I hope so. I think any time a team's under pressure, it's not a bad thing if you're playing against them. But they've been out here before and performed well. Our job is to try and keep them quiet, see how we go," Cummins told AAP at the launch of his book Tested.
Last week, New Zealand bagged an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-Test series against India. The Kiwis couldn't win any of their previous 12 series in India, going back to 1955.
Yet India have performed so well in Australia that Cummins has never featured in a winning series against them and that is one thing he would like to tick off his bucket list.
"It's kind of the one big thing that I want to tick off. Particularly winning at home. Most Australians, me included, expect us to do well whenever we play at home," Cummins said.
India play the first Test against Australia in Perth from November 22. The last time the two teams faced each other at this venue, the visitors were thrashed by 146 runs, thanks to eight wickets from Nathan Lyon. Then Captain Kohli's 123 had gone to waste.
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