‘We’re Pretty Good at Bouncing Back’: Cummins Stays Confident After Shock Darwin Test Loss to Bangladesh
Australian captain Pat Cummins made no excuses for his team’s shocking nine-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the first of two Tests in Darwin on Sunday. Cummins led a full-strength Australian XI for the series opener but failed to replicate Steve Waugh, who guided Australia to an innings win over Bangladesh at the very same venue 23 years ago. While Cummins expressed no concerns over Australia’s preparation for the first Test, he hinted at returning to the drawing board and making changes to the XI for the next Test if necessary.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, had entered this Test on the back of being bowled out for just 54 in their scheduled warm-up tie against a Cricket Australia XI. They nonetheless pulled off the unthinkable, beating the mighty Australians for their first-ever Test win Down Under, and only their second Test win against Australia overall. Chasing a mere 57 in the final innings, Bangladesh lost their opener and first-innings hero Tanzid Hasan for a duck before Shadman and Mominul put together a stand to see the side home with nine wickets in hand.
“I thought our preparation was pretty much spot-on. I thought it was excellent, so, yeah, no excuses,” Cummins said at the post-match presentation. “They [Bangladesh] played really well. I thought the day one wicket, [there was] a little bit [in it] early but obviously [we’ve] got to try and find a way to bat a little bit longer than we did, and then just couldn’t penetrate with the ball.”
“They outplayed us in all facets. I thought they were really patient and quite disciplined. Once we were behind, it was really hard to get back,” he continued.
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The Australian cricket team has found itself in such situations over the years and has successfully bounced back on most occasions. Cummins, while not ready to back down, reminded everyone of just how well the Australians know their way around a comeback.
“I think every time there’s a game like this, you always kind of look at your match-ups and your make-up with the team for the next one. But we only just finished, [so] we’ll have a think about it,” Cummins said. “We’re pretty good at bouncing back, so no doubt the batters and every group will get together and have a good think about this one and where we can improve.”
Ponting Suggests Changes
Commenting from the broadcast booth, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting suggested it was inevitable that the hosts would need to make changes for the second Test, starting with the number three position, where Marnus Labuschagne’s struggles have persisted for some time.
“I think it’s inevitable they have to make a change,” Ponting said on Channel 7. “I was on the record at the end of last summer thinking that this was the ideal time to start to regenerate this team because the performances from some of the players. I’m the last one (I want) to make change. As a captain or as a player, I wanted to keep the group together. So it has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out.
“But there had been enough evidence for me coming here to suggest that they weren’t going to lose anything or much at all by starting that regeneration, by maybe bringing in another opener, by maybe bringing in someone at No. 3,” Ponting continued.