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Pat Cummins has taken 269 wickets in 62 Tests so far. (AP Photo)
Pat Cummins will be leading Australia in the five-match Test series against India later this year.
Australia Test captain could feature in the upcoming Sheffield Shield (Australia’s domestic red-ball competition) ahead of the India Test series slated to get underway from November this year.
Cummins recently took part in the Major League Cricket in USA and has been rested from Australia’s white-ball tour of the UK. During this time, he plans to work on his fitness ahead of the five Tests against India.
“Ronnie (Australia coach Andrew McDonald) called me the other day and said we need to talk about this. I prefer to go a little bit fresher but definitely play some cricket going in,” Cummins was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“So I’d say it’s either two or three ODIs, plus a Shield (game) or maybe just some Shield, maybe some NSW one-day stuff. I imagine kind of late October/early November will be when I start playing building up for the Tests,” he added.
After the India series at home, Australia will tour Sri Lanka for two Tests as they aim to qualify for the final of the 2025 ICC World Test Championship.
Cummins may also play in an ODI series against Pakistan in November as part of his preparation.
In an interview to ESPNcricinfo, Cummins threw some light on what he plans to do during his time away from international cricket.
“I still get that same amount of break and then just probably start one or two weeks later heading into the summer… I’ll get home, I’ll have a good six or eight weeks off bowling where I’ll get in the gym every day, do some running, and get some strength back into my body. And then we’ve got a big Test match series (vs India) for our home summer, so that’ll be the focus,” he said.
India’s tour of Australia starts from November 22 with Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney set to host a Test each.
