IND v AUS 2020: 'It was planned before the series' - Pat Cummins explains decision to skip white-ball games

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins recently revealed that he skipped the last four white-ball games against India due to bio-bubble fatigue. He further added that he is battle-ready for the forthcoming four-match Test series, which starts on December 17 at the Adelaide Oval.

After picking up 3 wickets in the first two ODIs, Pat Cummins sat out the final ODI on December 2 and the three-match T20I series against Virat Kohli’s side.

The move didn’t go down well with pundits. Former Aussie cricketers Shane Warne and Brett Lee hit out at the 27-year-old speedster for skipping international commitments.

Pat Cummins, though, elaborated that both he and the Australian management agreed that rest would help all parties involved. He continued by saying that there will be many players – especially those who play all three formats – who will need a break from bio-bubbles in the near future.

“We’ve said for months that there’s going to be times where players may need a couple of days or a couple of games off, especially our three-format players...It was planned before the series and no doubt you’ll see that [with many players] over the next however long,” Pat Cummins was quoted as saying in ‘The West Australian’.

The Sydney lad played three T20Is and as many ODIs against England in September. He then flew out to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders side for close to two months in IPL 2020.

Following the conclusion of the T20 tournament, Cummins immediately touched down in Sydney to bowl his heart out in the first two ODIs at the SCG.

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‘I had a good balance between downtime and rest,’ says Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins being clapped off the field in the Melbourne Test against India in 2018-19

In what is good news for Australians, Pat Cummins, who took 14 wickets in four Tests the last time India toured Down Under, admitted that he feels rejuvenated and ready for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“I had a good balance between downtime and rest [back in Sydney]...but still training and I had a couple of good hit-outs to build some strength preparing for this pretty long stint coming up. If you could pick out the perfect preparation, it was pretty close to it given all the circumstances,” Cummins signed off.

The upcoming Test series will start with a pink-ball game in Adelaide (December 17-21), followed by day matches at Melbourne (December 26-30), Sydney (January 7-11) and Brisbane (January 15-19).

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