"Don't Want Him Carrying...": Australia Great Gives Verdict On Pat Cummins' Captaincy
Former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy doesn't want tearaway fast bowler Pat Cummins "carrying burden of captaincy"
Former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy doesn't want tearaway fast bowler Pat Cummins "carrying burden of captaincy". Cummins, who was appointed Test captain in November of 2021 and ODI skipper late last year, enjoys a strong winning record as captain of the Australian team. However, with Australia 0-2 down against India in the ongoing four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Cummins' leadership credentials have come into question. The 29-year-old was also dethroned as the no. 1 bowler in Test cricket by evergreen James Anderson.
As a result, Healy feels that Cummins should focus more on his bowling, and let someone else take the captaincy burden.
"I don't want him carrying the burden of so much captaincy for too long. I want him to finish (as just a bowler). The captaincy creates a burnout and four to five years is a long time as a captain. He's done a few years (as Test captain) already, now he's adding (short-form captaincy) to his thought processes at a time when he's dealing with some sort of family illness back home. So yeah, I would like to see him finish his career as a tearaway fast bowler and someone else with the captaincy burden," Healy told SEN.
Cummins averages 21.50 with the ball in Test, which is the best of any Australian to take over 200 wickets, and has a strike rate of 47.2.
He was the no. 1 ranked bowler in Test cricket for years, before the 41-year-old Anderson pipped him earlier this week.
The third Test between India and Australia gets underway on March 1 in Indore.
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Pat Cummins