Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins. Credit: Getty Images

Australian pacer Pat Cummins believes that the bowling attack of his team is shaping up well ahead of the T20 World Cup 2020 at home. The hosts have been tinkering a lot in the recent games to find their best combination ahead of the global event in their backyard.

Cummins was selected in Australia’s T20 squad for the upcoming series versus South Africa, while his compatriot Josh Hazlewood failed to make the cut. Hazlewood was named in the ODI series squad, but his absence from the Australian T20 team has continued.

The 29-year-old hasn’t played a T20 in national colours since March 2016, due to Test and ODI series duties.

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Australia, T20 World Cup 2020, South Africa
Josh Hazlewood. Credit: Getty Images

Hence, he has been snubbed yet again, something Cummins was quick to point out, adding that Australia’s pace bowling is well-stocked as the selectors felt they could afford to leave out Hazlewood.

Pat Cummins praises Josh Hazlewood after the latter gets snubbed from Aussie T20 squad:

Australia’s squad has been shaping up well, particularly, the fast bowling department, where Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Jhye Richardson, and Sean Abbott are all ahead of Hazlewood in the pecking order.

This is a luxury which few teams can boast of, in Cummins’ opinion, as the 26-year-old spoke about Hazlewood’s absence from the T20 squad.

“It’s one of the hard things. He’s a gun ODI and Test player, he hasn’t had much of a chance to play Big Bash or international T20 cricket. So it’s hard to actually know how good they are until they go back to the BBL and you see he shows his class there. The good thing is he, plus a number of bowlers, have done well for Australia or in the Big Bash so the fast bowling stocks are looking pretty good,” Cummins was quoted as saying from EPSN Cricinfo. 

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Australia, T20 World Cup 2020, South Africa
Pat Cummins. Credits: Twitter

He also spoke that there’s good harmony within the squad and they are all looking forward to the World Cup.

“This time around it feels like we’ve got lots of experience, lots of guys that have been around for a while. That might be the good thing about having so much domestic T20 cricket – even the guys who are on the fringe coming in, you know they’ve played a lot and have got a lot of experience. There’s a lot of confidence around the squad, hopefully, it transfers into a couple of wins,” said Cummins.

Australia’s South African tour begins from 21st February, where they will play three T20I games and as many ODI games.

Read More  "That was insane" - Pat Cummins admits being nervous as MI neared miracle chase in IPL 2024