SCG pitch has ‘huge connection’ to India, says Cummins

Sydney, Jan 3 (PTI) The Sydney pitch has a “huge connection” to the Indian conditions, said Australia skipper Pat Cummins ahead of the third Test against South Africa, hoping it will provide his side ideal preparation for their upcoming red-ball series in India.

Australia are leading the three-Test series against South Africa 2-0 and a win at SCG will all but seal their final spot at the World Test Championships Final to be held at the Oval in June.

Australia have typically struggled in subcontinent conditions and a dry, spinning surface is expected at the SCG, keeping in mind the upcoming tour of India in February.

“It’s a huge connection to India,” Cummins told reporters on Tuesday.

“Fast bowling and reverse swing is going to come into it, which we can expect in India. Probably get more spin overs here, our batters are probably going to face more spin here as well, so it’s a really good connection.

“Even personally, captaining here might be a little different to the last few Test matches,” he added.

Australia currently are sitting pretty atop the WTC points table with 10 wins from 14 Tests. In their last series before the final, Cummins and Co. will face India, who are second with eight wins.

Australia are eyeing a WTC final in June before taking on arch-rivals England in the five-Test Ashes campaign.

“It’s been a big driver for us over the last couple of years. I think playing in London (in) a final against India, say, at a neutral venue, that’s really exciting.”

Australia had missed out on the WTC final spot in the inaugural edition to New Zealand after being docked four points by the ICC for being two overs behind in the 2020 Boxing Day Test.

“It was still a new concept so even things like overs rates it wasn’t really spoken about as importantly as perhaps what we think about it now,” said the Australian pace spearhead.

“I think we got down to nine minutes down at one stage (in a recent Test) so we just made sure we had Travis Head or ‘Smithy’ (Steve Smith, two part-time spin bowlers) as an option and we got back basically within a couple of overs.

“Having just missed out on the World Test Championship final last cycle, that was always going to be a big goal. I think we’ve been playing fantastically, we’ve put ourselves in that position to earn that spot early which is a huge driver for us.

“It’s always exciting going to England and playing an Ashes series, but adding in a World Test Championship final is huge.”

The first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins in Nagpur on February 9. The next three Tests will be held in Delhi, Dharamsala and Ahmedabad respectively.