Australia captain Pat Cummins said that it’s finally nice to see something other than an India vs Australia final ahead of the summit clash of the World Test Championship (WTC). Australia and South Africa are set to lock horns in the WTC final on June 11 at Lord’s.
For the first time, India won’t be a part of the blockbuster clash as they failed to seal a berth in the final, finishing third on the points table, having earned 50% of the points. Recently, ahead of the final, Cummins said that India have regularly appeared in the finals in the past few years, but it was nice to see some other team apart from them.
“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,” Cummins told the Guardian.
Cummins led Australia to World Test Championship crown in 2023, beating India in the final by 209 runs. He also led Australia to 2023 ODI World Cup triumph, beating India in the final by six wickets.
The Australia skipper will have his eyes set on defending their crown in the upcoming WTC final to maintain his clean record in ICC tournament finals.
Furthermore, Cummins also shared his views on South Africa’s criticism of having a seemingly easier route to the WTC final saying that they can only beat the teams they play against.
“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. 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,” he added.
South Africa faced India, New Zealand (away), West Indies (away), Bangladesh (away), Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the current WTC cycle and finished on top with a points percentage of 69.44%. On the other hand, Australia faced England (away), Pakistan, New Zealand(away), India and Sri Lanka (away) on their way to the final.
