Australia captain Pat Cummins has said he expected India to be in the World Test Championship final while brushing aside any notion that South Africa had an easy way to the showpiece event set to begin at Lord’s from Wednesday. Having already won the 50-over World Cup and a WTC final in succession, Cummins has the opportunity to make history by becoming the first captain to win successive WTC.
Defending champions Australia start as firm favourites against South Africa and Cummins when asked if he was surprised about the opponent for the final said, “In some ways you expect India to be around. England have been quite strong at home and New Zealand always seem to get to finals. But the same case could be made for South Africa in ICC events. We just don’t see a lot of them in Test cricket but it’s nice and different to an Australia-India final.”
Soon after South Africa qualified for the final, former England captain Michael Vaughan ridiculed their road to Lord’s saying they beat a team of nobodies pointing to the fact that they didn’t play Australia and England in the current WTC cycle. But Cummins chose to keep aside all of it. “You can only beat who you come up against. Our route to the final was pretty tough but I don’t blame South Africa for having a different route,” Cummins said.
Coming into the final, there is a bit of unknown about how these two teams which enjoy a storied rivalry would face-off at Lord’s and Cummins said he expects nothing less from South Africa. “It’s hard to say because there are so many unknowns. We haven’t played them much [with their last Test series ending in an easy Australian victory at home in 2022-23] but you’ve got to be really well balanced to make the final. Their bowling has always stood out and it’s no different now. [Keshav] Maharaj is a really solid spinner and they’ve always got plenty of quick bowlers who pose a challenge.”
A win at Lord’s would also be a high point for Australia’s attack which includes the famous four of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Cummins. The upcoming Ashes could well turn out to be the last time all four could play and the Lord’s final is certainly the first big match all the four will feature in. “We’ve got quite a few players who are past their mid-30s and there seems to be a natural attrition rate into the late‑30s. If you’d asked me a year or two ago I would have said: ‘It’s going to be a huge change. There’s a little bit to be worried about.’ But we’ve seen Josh Inglis, Sam Konstas, [Nathan] McSweeney debut throughout [Australia’s] summer. [Beau] Webster’s come in plus a few others have debuted in white-ball cricket. I don’t think the transition will be as jarring as we first thought,” Cummins added.