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Melbourne [Australia], December 3 (ANI): Former Australian batter Ian Chappell lauded skipper Pat Cummins for his captaincy, saying that the Aussie pacers’ bowling, leadership and fearlessness while talking about off-the-field issues make him the right choice for captaincy and any cricketer not inspired by him “is in the wrong game”.
Pat Cummins is indeed having a time of his life as Australia’s captain. After being appointed as ODI skipper following Aaron Finch’s retirement and serving as Test captain, Cummins has led Australia to the ICC World Test Championship title, retention of the Ashes urn against England and record-extending sixth ICC Cricket World Cup title in a matter of months. In this brilliant run as a captain, there are hidden plenty of praiseworthy contributions as a fast bowler and a batter in clutch situations.
“Australia won an impressive sixth World Cup thanks to dynamic fielding, batting and bowling heroics, and enormous self-belief. However, the captaincy of Pat Cummins should not be overlooked when assessing Australia’s excellent achievement,” said Ian, writing for ESPNCricinfo.
Chappell said that Cummins was always going to be a good captain. Ian said that Cummins was the most inspirational player of the team and blessed with “cricketing common sense.”
“Cummins was always going to be a good captain. Overlooking for a moment the difficulties of being a fast-bowling skipper, he was easily the most inspirational player in the Australian team, and one blessed with cricketing common sense,” he added.
“Any cricketer who is not inspired by Cummins is in the wrong game,” continued Ian.
Ian said that Cummins is an outstanding fast bowler who has an admired knack for taking wickets in crucial situations and regularly troubles the best batters of the opposition.
“These qualities make him amply qualified to be an inspiring captain. The rest is a matter of him leading the Australian side and seeing what he can make of the job. The only way to improve as a captain is to do the job, make the odd miscalculation and quickly learn from any setbacks,” added Ian.
Ian said that after proving himself in Tests as a skipper, he has also gained success in 50-over cricket and exceeded his expectations.
Ian said that some other bowlers who made great captains, something rare in cricket, are Imran Khan of Pakistan, Richie Benaud of Australia, and Ray Illingworth of England.
The former Australian great said that by performing well in different countries, formats and conditions as a captain, Cummins has put himself in the category of aforementioned captains.
“Only Imran of that trio – an excellent leader of great presence–played in an era of rapidly growing limited-overs cricket. Imran crowned an excellent captaincy career by guiding Pakistan’s “skilled rabble” cricket team to an outstanding World Cup win in 1992. Cummins has now equalled Imran’s and Kapil Dev’s laudable achievements of clinching a World Cup trophy as a fast-bowling captain,” Ian added.
Ian also said that after Justin Langer’s exit from the side as a head coach, Cummins earned the right to choose the coach he wanted.
“He now works with coach Andrew McDonald but be in no doubt who is running the cricket side of things – it is, as it should be, the captain,” he added.
Ian also said that it is refreshing to watch Cummins and his team in action.
“While I can guarantee from personal experience that a lot of codswallop is written and spoken about what happens on the cricket field, it is refreshing to watch Cummins and his team in action. Cummins’ side is often spoken about as an ultra-aggressive Australian unit minus the ugly side effects,” he said.
The former batter put Cummins in the same bracket as former Aussie batter Mark Waugh and Indian spin legend and former captain Anil Kumble as “fierce competitors who convey their intentions purely by their actions.”
“Shooting your mouth off does not make you a tough player; quite often, it is exactly the opposite,” he added.
Ian lauded Cummins for speaking out on off-field issues like climate change and ‘Black Lives Matter’ saying that it is not easy for a cricketer to take a stand of his own in the “dog-eat-dog social media climate”.
“But Cummins has had the guts to be front and centre on issues he is passionate about. In acknowledging an invitation from Cummins to a symposium on the effect of climate change on cricket, I am not only declaring my involvement but also expressing admiration for the captain’s stand. Cummins is absolutely serious about climate’s effect on the planet,” he added.
Ian acknowledged that Cummins no doubt had challenges as a captain, like his battle with England Test skipper Ben Stokes in the Ashes this year, something that Ian felt would improve Cummins as a captain.
“Cummins’ captaincy experience will be improved by the intense skirmish with Stokes,” he added.
Ian said that Cummins was the right choice as a captain.
“Cummins was the right choice as Australian captain and he has done an extremely good job. Even in the ultra-demanding climate of Australian cricket, he has earned the right to remain captain for as long as he wants the role,” he concluded. (ANI)
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