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Australian skipper Pat Cummins sent a direct challenge to the Indian team before the onset of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Australia will host India for the five-match Test series from Friday, November 22, across five different venues down under. Ahead of the opening match set to be played at the Optus Stadium, Perth, the Australian skipper addressed the media and sent an open challenge to the visitors. During the press conference, Cummins acknowledged India’s strength while insisting that they were ready for the challenging series.
During the conference, Cummins insisted that the Australian team hasn’t felt the pressure of not winning the BGT for the past decade but admitted that the host team is always under pressure. Cummins said, 'The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has always been very tight every series. A five-Test match series gets really attritional; it's a big one, really. There will always be pressure when you are playing at home. India are a very talented side and it will be a good challenge. But we are not looking too far ahead. It would be great to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India are a great side, but we are well prepared.”
David Warner is hard to replace in many ways: Pat Cummins on Nathan McSweeney
One of Australia’s biggest concerns off late has been picking their opening player who would accompany Usman Khawaja. Since Steve Smith decided to move back to the fourth position, Australia have been constantly dwelling over the player who could partner with Khawaja and give a solid start to the side’s innings. For the series, the side went with Nathan McSweeney, who hasn’t opened in the Sheffield Series.
Speaking about the player, Cummins said that McSweeney needed to play his natural game and not try to copy Warner. He said, 'David Warner is very hard to replace in many ways. The important thing for Nate is to play his natural game. He does not need to strike at 80 SR like Davey did. That's not his game. For someone like Uzi, he gets the bowlers to come back again and again and I think Nate is very similar in that regard.”
