Australian Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins is of the belief that all-rounders will have a bigger role in the upcoming series against India. The Aussies are set to host India for a five-match Border-Gavaskar series from late November to early January.
Cummins stated that they would bank on their all-rounders more in the upcoming summer than what they did in the previous Test series against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand.
The Aussies were able to field their first-choice fast-bowling line-up for their seven Tests against the three teams, which was largely possible due to Cameron Green's all-round abilities.
It's been huge (having the all-rounders). In some ways, we haven't had to use them as much as we thought we would, which is a great thing. The last couple of summers have been pretty light (with) quick Test matches," Cummins said.
"I suspect this summer might be a bit different at the time. We'll be drawing on Cam Green and Mitch Marsh a bit more. Even someone like Cam basically started in Shield cricket as a bowler but hasn't had to bowl heaps in Test matches. Now he is a few years older, I think we will be leaning on him a bit more," he added.
While the front-line pace-attack was able to play the complete three series, Green was not used much with the ball. The tall all-rounder sent in 42 overs across the four Tests he was part of.
Cummins feels that the all-rounders are very much capable of making it to the team as pure batters too. "The first point is they both absolutely make the top six on their batting alone which is a luxury," Cummins said at the launch of Play Cricket week. "We're really lucky that Nathan Lyon bowls plenty of overs, so you don't necessarily have to have an allrounder, but it makes a big difference to have that fifth bowling option. And with someone like Cam and Mitch, we have six bowling options. It's a really nice thing to have. Top six should always make the team on their batting," he said.
