Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist praised captain Pat Cummins’ aggression in the second Test against India at the Adelaide Oval, in which the hosts won by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1. In the pink ball Test, the Australian pace trio of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland took all 20 wickets in India’s innings. Cummins and Starc showed dominance on the seam-friendly surface and together shared 15 wickets. Cummins, who took only three wickets in Perth’s 295-run defeat, took seven wickets in Adelaide and celebrated with controlled aggression.
Speaking on Fox Cricket’s The Follow-On podcast, Gilchrist said, “You could just see from his celebrations that… every wicket he took, he was more aggressive in celebrating. Not to the extent that he lost control.” “But you can clearly see that he faced a bit of criticism after his performance (in Perth) and internally he must have been very disappointed with the way he played in Perth.”
Gilchrist said, “So this (celebration in Adelaide) shows you how much it means to them and they knew they were back at the level they want to play their cricket at. Cummins was brilliant, he “Looked like they needed a bit of an oil and grease change and a tune up after Perth, they were fine by the end of the match, so it was great to see.” He added, “They were just a unit, three bowlers, Nathan Lyon bowled just one over (in the match) and Mitch Marsh bowled four, but apart from that, the big three – Starc, Bould, Cummins – hunted together and “We bowled as a unit and it was really fun to watch.”
Meanwhile, Gilchrist praised Marnus Labuschagne’s positive approach in defence, saying that although his dismissal was “pretty soft”, he believed Labuschagne had the potential to score more runs as the series progressed. A solid platform has been prepared. Gilchrist said, “It’s easy when you defend; if you want to immediately judge whether it’s a single or not, I could be wrong, but in Perth it looked like they were so strong in defence. That means you lose intention in that action.”
Gilchrist further added, “Then you can miss the opportunity to take a quick single and keep yourself away from the strike and avoid being trapped. Everything they did (in Adelaide) was really positive and it seemed that His intentions were right.” Gilchrist further added, “He would have been extremely disappointed with the way he lost his wicket at the end. The fact that he spent some time at the crease, started getting runs and had a really important partnership with McSweeney, I think That it has put Marnus back on the right track, now it is his job to repeat it again and again.” The third Test between Australia and India will be played in Brisbane from 14 December.
