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Pat Cummins confirmed that his stepping down as Australia captain is not "imminent" and he is expecting to go a bit longer than he originally expected.
Australia have tasted success in the ODI and Test formats since Cummins took over the captaincy from Aaron Finch and Tim Paine respectively. With Cummins at the helm, Australia stunned India in the World Test Championship final to lift their maiden title in 2023. This wasn't the only coveted title that Australia settled for last year. In a cricket extravaganza fest, the Baggy Greens overcame the high-flying Rohit Sharma-led India side at the ODI World Cup final to lift the trophy for the sixth time. Initially, the 31-year-old thought about concluding his stint as skipper by 2025. But now, Cummins is willing to go all the way to 2027. As he continues to lead the side, he has preferred to keep the current coaching staff, which is headed by Andrew McDonald. "[That's] still a bit of a wait-and-see, but maybe I can go a little bit longer than I first thought. I feel like I can manage a lot more than what I did back then, just by getting better at it and having some wonderful people around that help as well," he said, as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald. "It feels like a pretty well-run machine at the moment where the coaches, staff, all the players get on with the work, and [I] don't need to be as hands-on as when I first came in. But that might change as well with younger guys coming into the team in the next few years. I'm not going to do it forever, but I wouldn't say it's imminent that I'm going to step away. [2027] is the big question, but it's a long way away," he added. Cummins boasts an exceptional captaincy record since stepping up for the role in November 2021. In 28 Test matches, Cummins has led Australia to victory 17 times. In the ODIs, Australia has tasted only three defeats in 15 matches while tasting success on 12 occassions. As Australia continues to soar to new heights, Cummins is loving every moment that he spends as Australia captain. The presence of McDonald has certainly played its part in easing the pressure off Cummins's shoulders. "At the moment, I'm loving the role, it's going well. With 'Ronnie' (McDonald) and the coaching staff, we want to keep that together because that makes my job a little bit easier as well. We've spoken about it, but I probably won't say any more than that," Cummins remarked. For Cummins and Australia, a major challenge lies ahead with India set to arrive in their homeland for the highly-anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy, which will begin on November 2 in Perth. (ANI)
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