Pat Cummins to quit Australia captaincy? Pacer drops massive statement

Pat Cummins has enjoyed a stunning journey as Australia’s captain so far. A lot of eyebrows were raised when he was appointed the captain of the Australia Test team in 2021 before being named the ODI captain as well in 2022.

Teams usually appoint their best batsman as the captain of the team but Australia decided to show faith in the fast-bowler and he has totally justified the faith. In 2023, he led Australia to their first ICC World Test Championship title and helped the team retain the Ashes as well. Towards the end of the year, he also led Australia to a stunning triumph in the ODI World Cup in India.

And while Pat Cummins has had a brilliant run as Australia’s captain so far, he does not see himself in that role for the rest of his playing career. Speaking to the media on the eve of the first Test against New Zealand, the right-arm pacer said that his future will depend a lot on how far his body and form hold up. He said that even if he manages to play till his mid-30s, he is unlikely to be the captain of the team for that long.

“In a perfect world, if my form and body could keep up I’d like to be playing into my mid-30s, I’d doubt that I’ll be captaining that long. It’s good to have some freshness every x amount of time. If I’ve got seven or eight years, in a perfect world, of Test cricket I’d be very surprised if I’m captain for the whole time,” said Pat Cummins.

Pat Cummins on playing under Marsh and Wade in T20Is:

While Pat Cummins is the Test and ODI captain of Australia, he is not the captain in the T20I formats. He recently played under the captaincy of Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Wade in the shortest format of the game. Sharing his experience of the same, the star pacer said that he enjoyed playing only as a player without the added responsibility of captaincy.

“I really enjoyed it actually, with Marshy and Wadey taking up the reins I felt like I could just be a player. On the field, just worrying about your own skills solely, especially in a format that I haven’t played a lot for a while was good.

“Wadey and Marshy are both really good mates, so I’m there if they need me or want to lean or bounce an idea off me or whatever, but it was more of a mental refresh than anything else,” he explained.

Cummins will be in charge of the team once again when Australia take on New Zealand in the first Test, scheduled to be played from February 29.