AHMEDABAD: Australian captains have a way with words. The language can be colourful. If Michael Clarke's 'get ready for a broken f***** arm' lives in infamy, Ricky Ponting's not-so-subtle sledges are not far behind. Steve Waugh could make people sweat by his mere presence. Allan Border used fruity language all the time.
There is one common theme that links all of them. Captains who delivered the ODI World Cup for Australia. On Sunday, Pat Cummins has the opportunity to join this illustrious list. But his path to the top has been so different.
He's calm, understated, isn't one to weaponise press conferences to send a message, is a seamer as opposed to a batter and readily wears a smile after beating the bat. While some of this is a product of the prevailing cricketing ecosystem in Australia (the sometimes unpalatable behaviour changed following sandpapergate), he's built a team in his own image.
And his image is something Australian cricket has taken getting used to. He's a climate change activist (the anti-woke Australian brigade loves to hate him because of his stance on several issues). "Go woke, you choke," was a particularly infamous one-liner thrown at him after a disappointing outing during last year's T20 World Cup opener against New Zealand. He's read up about racism in the Australian context. He's taken on Justin Langer, a chum of the all-conquering Test side of the noughties, during the former's stand-off with the players. He has tried to be an inclusive captain (he asked his teammates to put away the champagne so that Usman Khawaja could be involved in the celebrations post last year's Ashes).
These may be small gestures but you usually don't associate Australian captains with gestures like these. They usually are the pantomimes. Cummins is more of a diplomat.
That side was out again during the pre-match press conference on Saturday. He kept repeating how well-rounded a side India are. It's a far cry from what Ponting said before the 2007 semifinal against South Africa. 'If we can get Kallis in there early, I don't think they can get off to the same start," he had said. "... we can restrict him." True to form, Australia got Kalls in after 15 legal deliveries. He was dismissed for five off nine. Mental disintegration on point.
Yet, zoom out for a bit and Cummins is as Australian in other ways. While he may lack the hubris or the unpleasantness, he possesses the single most important trait needed to succeed at this level. Chutzpah. And a bloody-mindedness to get things done.
At Edgbaston five months ago, Cummins stood tall to guide them home with the bat in The Ashes. He held his side of the bargain when Glenn Maxwell was tearing into the Afghanistan attack a few weeks ago. For a third time, he held his own with the bat, this time in the semifinals a few days ago. That's before you even talk about his primary skills as a bowler or his secondary skills as a captain.
When 2023 dawned, he had a full in tray. A series in India. Retain the Ashes. Qualify for and win the World Test Championships in England. Win the ODI World Cup.
He played a big role in retaining the Ashes. They qualified for and beat India in the final of the WTC. The green and gold are 100 overs away from capping off an unreal year with more gold. "It's been a huge year," he said during the pre-match press conference. "Three or four marquee events. Some of the guys have probably spent less than a couple of weeks in their own bed since the end of the Aussie summer. One thing that's stayed consistent has been the morale of the group. The guys have been awesome. To put ourselves in a position like this, it would just top off an incredible year and probably a career-defining year that a lot of us will look back on in years to come."
The one thing missing in Cummins' CV is his white-ball effectiveness. While he's already in the conversation for an all-time Test XI, his one-day numbers are middling. An economy of 5.31 while striking at 32.5 over 87 games. At this World Cup, he has gone at over six per over while striking once every 36 balls across 10 games. The wickets (13) have come but he doesn't have that one memorable performance with the ball.
He will not find a better time to produce magic.