Pat Cummins to play in all matches against India

What's the story?

Australian stand-in coach David Saker has stated that pacer Pat Cummins is most likely to play in all the games of the upcoming ODI series against India.

"At this stage, we're planning for him to play all the games. We will look at (resting him), it's obviously been brought up between all of us. We know that his workloads are up there, but we know it's an important series. It's Australia vs India, it doesn't get any bigger than that," Saker said in an interview to Australia's Cricket Network.

"He's really determined to play well over here. It'll be a game-by-game basis, we'll play it by the ear," he added.

In case you didn't know..

Australian frontline pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and James Pattinson are out of action for the India tour as the fast-bowling trio are still in the convalescent phase from their respective injuries, with the board deciding to take extra care ahead of the Ashes.

Cummins will lead the pace attack in their absence.

The man from Sydney made his debut for Australia at the age of 18. His career has been plagued by recurrent as well as concurrent injuries ever since.

The details

Cummins bowled just four overs in Australia's warm-up match against Board President's XI in Chennai yesterday. The 24-year-old bowled excellently in the recently-concluded Test series against Bangladesh and Saker admitted that the pacer's workload has been "up there" in the past few weeks.

However, he also added that resting Cummins would only count as Plan B, while the primary course of action will be to select him for all the matches.

What's next?

Steve Smith and Co. will take on India for a five-match ODI series followed by three T20I games. The first ODI will be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai later this week (September 17).

Author's take

Rest is just as important as training for high-profile cricketers in today's day and age. Their jam-packed schedule barely allows them to tune in and out of the incessant pressure of international cricket.

However, a series like India vs Australia is not to be taken lightly, more so by the visiting team. The kangaroo pace attack is already dented due to the absence of its regular members.

Cummins' pace and experience will be vital for Australia's chances of pocketing the series.

An ideal scenario for the Australian cricket fan would be to witness the speedster win games with his terrific bowling in the series to help him get ready for the Ashes that will follow in November.