India Batsmen Beware: Michael Vaughan predicts 'Pat Cummins' dominance in pink-ball Test

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has expressed confidence in Australia's captain, Pat Cummins, to rediscover his form in the upcoming pink-ball Test against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Cummins had a tough time in the first Test at Perth, where he only managed to pick up three wickets despite favorable conditions. Australia suffered a heavy defeat in the opening match of the series, putting Cummins under pressure to perform both as a leader and a bowler in the second Test at Adelaide. Vaughan believes that Cummins has the ability to bounce back and lead his team to a much-needed victory in the crucial match.

Vaughan suggested that the Aussie skipper looked rather rusty in Perth as he last played a Test before that in March. “He’s a world-class performer, a brilliant captain and a brilliant bowler. (But) the one thing I’ll say is he did look short of a gallop in the first Test,” he told The Follow On.

“He’d not been playing any cricket. He had not played any longer format cricket since March. So I would think this week in Adelaide, he will be up on his pace because of what he did last week," he said.

Australia managed to bundle out India for 150 in the first innings at Perth. But the pace troika of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were just ineffective in the second essay and the visiting batters dominated them by posting 487/6 decl.

However, Vaughan suggested that the first Test would have surely helped Cummins to shift his mindset back to red-ball format. “I think the first Test will be good for him. He’s got some overs back into his body, into his mind, playing the longer format back into his system, and I think he’ll be better for it," he added.

The Aussie skipper's pace also dropped this year, and he was unable to cause much trouble to the Indian batters on a surface with pace and bounce. Vaughan also discussed the same and said the drop in pace is allowing the batters some extra time to adjust.

“Pace is a lot for Pat Cummins. If he is down to 135 (or so), I think it gives the batters that extra little bit of time to adjust to the movement and the accuracy that he produces. We saw it in the Ashes, actually, a couple of years ago, that when England got after him, and when England got after Australia, England looked like a team that were dominating. The field was spread and run scoring became that much easier," Vaughan added.