'Pay attention to...' - Ian Healy livid with Pat Cummins for praising West Indies after Gabba defeat

Australia great Ian Healy has called out Pat Cummins for the praise showered by him on the West Indies team after the shocking loss in Brisbane. The Australia captain was all praise for the Caribbean outfit after they stunned the hosts by 8 runs to level the two-match series.

Not many had given West Indies even an outside chance of winning the Test but the Kraigg Brathwaite-led side sprung a huge surprise. West Indies won the thrilling game to claim their first Test win on Australian soil since 1997. They also ended Australia’s unbeaten streak in day-night Tests.

West Indies were reeling at 64 for 5 before recovering and posting 311. In reply, Australia declared their innings on 289/9, a decision that came to haunt them. Set a target of 216 runs, the hosts fell short by just 8 runs to suffer their first defeat of the ongoing home season. Despite the loss, Pat Cummins heaped praise on West Indies, saying:

“They’ve been fantastic, they created a couple of new superstars that we didn’t know about before the series and as a cricket fan, as a Test-match cricket fan, there’s a part of me that was happy to watch.”

Ian Healy criticizes Pat Cummins:

Pat Cummins’ comments have not gone down well with Ian Healy as the former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman said that the captain was a ‘bit too glowing of the West Indies’. Speaking on SENQ Pat and Heals, Healy said that Pat Cummins praising West Indies masks Australia’s poor show in Brisbane.

“You know, I wasn’t that happy with Pat Cummins and how he dealt with. He’s a bit too glowing of the West Indies. I like that bit, but I don’t think he’s paying enough attention to his side’s underachievement. Do you reckon they played brilliantly? We only had to chase 216, that means they didn’t play brilliantly until the last day. Australia let them into that match big time,” said Healy.

Australia and West Indies will now resume their rivalry in a limited-overs format. Both teams will play a three-match ODI series against each other, starting on February 2. After the ODIs, they will also lock horns against each other in a three-match T20I series.