Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins, who picked four wickets for 21, including the prized wickets of India captain Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara as Australia bowled India out for their lowest Test total of 36 and won the Test by eight wickets, said that the two years since the 2-1 series loss at home to India has made him wiser.
Australia had lost a series at home to India for the first time in history in 2018-19 after losing the Tests at Adelaide and Melbourne. Pujara scored three centuries in that series to wear out the Australian bowling attack.
On Saturday though, Cummins got Pujara caught behind for an eight-ball duck. "Two years of experience, I know my game a bit better. Yeah I was really happy with that one in particular. I saw the ball before that on the big screen and saw it seam in so I thought if I can just try to get this hold its line, you never know... it is one of those days when everything seems to come off, everything we tried worked. So very happy with that one," Cummins told Channel 7.
Cummins, 27, added that the atmosphere in the hosts' change room was so ecstatic that they are trying to keep a lid on it. He said that initially the plan was to dismiss India for under 200 and get 80-odd runs by the end of the day.
Asked if the Australians made any change in line and length from the first innings, Cummins said, "I thought on the first day, we bowled beautifully. There were a lot of chances but the balls just fell short. On another day, that could have probably created 15-20 chances. The idea was to just stay patient and we got our rewards. It was last year in Headingley first innings we had a similar day out (England were bowled out for 67 by Australia but still won the game). But today is by far the best we have seen us bowl."
Cummins said there was a lot of bounce in the first innings which made it difficult to hit the stumps.
"We chatted about it. In the first innings, there was a lot of bounce. We tried to get as full as we can... but to hit the stumps it almost looked like it had to be a half volley. Once we got into our work (in second innings) we had to be a little fuller and make it difficult for them to leave the ball," he added.
"The wicket here -- three or four Tests I have played -- has always provided a fair contest between bat and ball. There is a bit of bounce when there is pink ball. You can see there is seam and swing."
