India vs Australia: Pacer Pat Cummins Continues to Grow in Stature as World's Best Test Bowler

There's hardly any doubt over Australia's Pat Cummins' dominance as a Test bowler in the world, and his numbers in the last few years show why he is ranked as the best among his compatriots currently. A total of 159 wickets in a space of 34 matches, at a staggering strike rate of 46.9 is a true reflection of a champion bowler -- one who has shown most consistency in the last four years.

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If one takes a closer look at his career -- it could be divided in two halves -- one where he played a solitary Test in 2011, picking up seven wickets and succumbing to a spate of back injuries, and other being making a come back after a few years and establishing himself as the spearhead of the Aussie bowling attack, despite the presence of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

Call it his ability to swing the ball late, in both directions, or the pace and bounce he generates from the wicket -- he has a knack of picking up crucial wickets, that often gives his side an advantage. The rare quality of picking up wickets has once again put him in the spotlight in the ongoing series against India -- he has already picked up 16 wickets in three Tests. Not just the numbers game, Cummins has been a nemesis for players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, bowling probing lines just on the top of off stump, that has troubled the Indian batsmen.

Interestingly, in this series, he has shown a better strike-rate -- 43.9, than his career rate of 46.9. In the 117 overs that he has bowled till now, he has bagged 16 wickets at an average of 18.37 and an economy of 2.50. Just to put things into perspective, he has only had a better strike rate in a series against South Africa -- 42, and is in the bowling form of his life.

Similar was the case in the 2018-19 series against India at home, that the latter had won. It was Cummins, who delivered once again, while others bowed down to the might of Pujara and Virat Kohli. That time too, the lanky pacer had chipped in with 23 wickets in four Tests at an average of 27.78.

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While Cummins might appear to fancy bowling to India at home, it is his performances in not so conducive conditions, that sets him apart. In the 2017 series against India, that Australia lost, in the two matches he played, he bagged eight wickets at an average of 30. While in other notable performances away from home, he managed to bag 22 wickets against South Africa in four Tests in 2018, and 29 scalps in five Ashes Tests in 2019. These performances abroad, make him a complete bowler, perhaps better than Kagiso Rabada or Jasprit Bumrah.

• Brisbane Test
• India vs Australia 2020
• Josh Hazlewood
• Mitchell Starc
• Pat Cummins
• Sydney Test