Pat Cummins in his short duration as the captain of the Australian team in Tests and ODIs has won whatever's there to be won in the two formats - World Test Championship, World Cup, a home Ashes win and then the retention away in England. Cummins has become the blue-eyed boy of Australian cricket rather quickly and deservedly so and the 30-year-old still has quite a few years left in him. However, the right-arm pacer wasn't sure that he'd remain captain the whole time he is playing for Australia in these two formats.
Cummins addressing the press conference ahead of the first Test against New Zealand admitted that he would want to play deep into his mid-30s but wasn't sure if he will be the captain the whole time. "In a perfect world, if my form and body could keep up I’d like to be playing into my mid-30s, I’d doubt that I’ll be captaining that long. It’s good to have some freshness every x amount of time. If I’ve got seven or eight years, in a perfect world, of Test cricket I’d be very surprised if I’m captain for the whole time," Cummins said.
Cummins may still remain as Australia's captain in Tests and ODIs till maybe the ODI World Cup 2027, however, since he isn't a sure-shot starter in T20Is, Mitchell Marsh has been handed the captaincy in the shortest format. Asked about how he felt playing for Australia not being a captain after such a long time, Cummins admitted that he did felt a bit free as he only had his skills to focus on and nothing else.
"I really enjoyed it actually, with Marshy and Wadey taking up the reins I felt like I could just be a player. On the field, just worrying about your own skills solely, especially in a format that I haven’t played a lot for a while was good," Cummins said. "Wadey and Marshy are both really good mates, so I’m there if they need me or want to lean or bounce an idea off me or whatever, but it was more of a mental refresh than anything else," Cummins added.
Cummins-led Australia will be playing a Test series in New Zealand for the first time after eight years and will hope to continue their form in the ongoing WTC cycle, despite a blip in their final game of the home summer against the West Indies.
