Melbourne: Australian Test captain Pat Cummins, who also got additional charge of leading the ODI side on Tuesday, would have rejected Cricket Australia’s (CA) offer had it come a year back, but with almost 12 months of successfully leading the team in the longest format, accepting the dual responsibility was a “no brainer”.
Cummins led the Australian Test side to victories in the Ashes and on the historic tour of Pakistan earlier this year and was on Tuesday appointed the ODI skipper as well to replace Aaron Finch who recently retired from the 50-over format.
Cummins will now lead the Australian side in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.
“I would have (said no) 12 months ago,” Cummins said on SEN’s Whateley. “I think it’s been a bit of a journey, it’s probably a slightly different style. We’re 12 months out from a World Cup, I think there’s 14 ODI games.
“Speaking to the selectors and I’m sure we’ll manage through those games to get to the World Cup, it was a no brainer.”
Cummins added the ODI World Cup in India in October would be a “significant” milestone in his cricketing career.
“I think the (most exciting thing is the) World Cup is just around the corner,” Cummins said. “Those big tournaments are significant parts of anyone’s career, and I’ve been part of two of them. Building towards a campaign is really exciting and looking at the team, we’ve got some significant leaders around that I can certainly bounce off.”
While Cummins has been appointed skipper, Cricket Australia (CA) has held back the announcement of his deputy, though they have options in Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh among others.
“We’ve got a group of three, four or five that can step up whenever I’m not there, I’m big on collaboration,” Cummins said. “I think in cricket it’s always been that if someone’s the captain they’re the captain full-time and it’s all-encompassing, but I think we’re moving slightly away from that.
“I think in our current set-up we’ve got various multi-format players that we’ll have need to manage through different series as well.”
David Warner will not likely be considered for the vice-captain’s role, given that he is serving a lifetime leadership ban due to his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 in Cape Town against South Africa.
“Obviously, that (Warner as vice-captain) is not a possibility at the moment,” Cummins said. “We’re really happy with the other leaders in the team that can be in a bit more of a titled role. But I welcome any change to the current situation with David (Warner) and certainly down the track us players and the staff around kind of internally would have no qualms with him stepping up if needed.”
Cummins’ first assignment as ODI skipper will come against England at home after the T20 World Cup.
–IANS
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