‘To bat in such a clinical manner was exceptional’ – Former England skipper praises Australia skipper Pat Cummins for his heroics with the bat in 1st Test

Australia skipper Pat Cummins led his team to a historic victory against England in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday. Cummins, in a pressure situation, scored 44 runs and added 55 runs for the ninth wicket with Nathan Lyon. Both remained unbeaten as Australia beat the hosts by two wickets.

Meanwhile, former England skipper Nasser Hussain praised Cummins for his game techniques. Hussain remarked that while everyone is praising Cummins as a leader, his methods would have been called into question if Australia had lost the Test. The Australian skipper hammered for 38 runs in the first innings and took four wickets in England’s second innings before hitting a match-winning 44* on the last day.

“To be able to hang in there when England played the way they did, Joe Root scooping him and him having to set fields to counteract it, was a mark of him as both a cricketer and character. The criticism he faced for adopting defensive fields, the ability to soak all of that up, and then on the fifth evening come out with 72 runs needed and bat in such a clinical manner was exceptional”, Hussain wrote in his column.

Nasser Hussain lauds Cummins to overcome captaincy pressure 

Further speaking about the timing and his batting technique Nasser said, “His sense of timing was spot-on, and when England were down on their knees, he pounced with those couple of sixes off Joe Root. When men were placed out for the hook, and they targeted his ribs, he swayed out of the way. He was so cool and calm under immense pressure.”

Hussain further reflected on Pat Cummins’ captaincy, saying that if the visitors had lost, the Australian captain would have been questioned about his tactics. “If Australia had lost, everyone would’ve been questioning his tactics, and his captaincy for being too defensive. He wins, and it’s genius. That’s pretty much international captaincy if you win, you get back to all the decisions that you make, and if things go against you, then people pick them apart”, Hussain added.