Cummins denies momentum in India’s favour after draw; hails Ashwin as ‘one of all-time greats’

Brisbane, Dec 18 (PTI) Australia captain Pat Cummins is not bothered if India walked away with momentum from the drawn third Test but is pleased that they did not let the visitors exploit better batting conditions in the first innings.

Australia, who largely controlled the third Test, declared their second innings at 89/7 to set India a 275-run target but rian prevented an exciting climax.

“(I) can’t say I’ve ever been scared of momentum — don’t really care about that. I think we can take a lot from this week,” he told media after the end of the contest.

“A couple of great partnerships, to be sent in on a (fresh) wicket and score 450 (445) and then managing to bowl India out for 250 (260) when the wicket, the conditions were probably a little bit better. We can take a lot from that,” he said.

Ashwin is one of the all time greats

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While the contest expectedly ended in a draw with the series tied 1-1, India’s spin great Ashwin announced his immediate retirement from international cricket.

Cummins said Ashwin’s decision midway through the series was surprising.

“Yeah, (the timing was) a bit of a surprise. He’s obviously been a fantastic player all around the world really. There aren’t too many finger spinners that have that kind of longevity. He’ll go down as one of the all-time greats.”

“(He was) always a fantastic competitor, (we) had a lot of battles against him over the years here in Australia as well over in India. Just a massive respect from our change room to the career that he’s had,” he said.

The home skipper said the Brisbane Test was one of the most frustrating games due to the number of times players were forced off the field.

“It’s right up there. I can’t remember (in the past) even coming close (to) the amount of times we were on and off throughout the five days,” he said.

“Especially here in Brisbane, I feel like it normally just pelts down for a couple hours and then you’re back on and it’s clear… yeah, frustrating. (It) felt like we were ahead of the game for pretty much all of it, but not to be,” he added.

Hazlewood to miss remainder of series, Head will be fine

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Cummins lamented that pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the series due to injury but said Travis Head would be fine from a “tight quad” trouble.

“Joshy won’t be part of the series, which is a real shame. Travis, he’ll be fine. It’s a bit of a tight quad. He’ll be fine for Melbourne,” Cummins said.

“It’s really tough. It’s kind of in the story of the last few summers. The extra layer to that is probably one of the most disciplined, professional sports people you’d ever meet,” Cummins said while talking further on Hazlewood.

“The way he trains and prepares and goes about… when he’s at home, he’s in the gym every second day, every day doing whatever it needs to take to try and minimise injuries.”

“That’s an extra kind of blow knowing how much he has put into his body over the last few years to try and play as many Test matches as he can.”

He continued, “We value him. Unfortunately, he’ll miss this series. I don’t know when exactly he’ll be right to go again, Even in the little snippets you’ve seen this series, how much we rate him, how much of an impact he can have.”

Cummins said it has been a tough series for top-order batters while backing Australia rookie Nathan McSweeney ahead of the team’s selection for the remaining two Tests.

“The trend in world cricket, pretty much all around the world, is (that) the top three is really hard place to bat at the moment. Particularly here in Australia, the wickets are tough,” he said.

“I’ve been really impressed with the way he’s (McSweeney) gone about it even today. Someone’s starting out his career still being selfless enough to go out there and try and play shots rather than just trying to preserve and get a score.”

“I’m really impressed with him. Again, (he) hasn’t probably scored the runs that he would (have) liked, but he has played some important knocks that have set up a win in Adelaide and a really good result here,” he added.