Cummins to ‘cool heels’ after Ashes as T20 World Cup looms

Melbourne, Dec 26 (IANS) Australia captain Pat Cummins has set his sights on the T20 World Cup 2026 after a successful hit-and-run mission in the Ashes series, saying he is cooling his heels for a bit with the mega spectacle in India and Sri Lanka beginning in early February.

Cummins, who missed the first two Ashes Tests as he was recovering from his back issue, returned for the third Test in Adelaide to pick up six wickets in the series-clinching win.

With the Ashes urn successfully retained, Australia decided to rule Cummins out for the remainder of the series. But the 38-year-old pacer is with the squad in Melbourne, supporting his teammates from the dressing rooms.

“Feeling good, so got through Adelaide unscathed so pretty happy,” Cummins told Channel 7 during the lunch break on Boxing Day.

“As of a few weeks ago, was still coming back from a back injury so playing back-to-back Test matches was pretty high risk.

“Cool our heels for a little bit with T20 World Cup next month,” he added.

However, speaking on Cummins’ T20 World Cup chances, head coach Andrew McDonald had earlier said, “That’ll be an assessment. I’m assuming he’ll have a check-in scan at some point and gather more information around where his back is at… looking forward to the World Cup, whether he’ll be there or not. I can’t really say. It’s quite grey at the moment. We’re hopeful.”

Meanwhile, Cummins said veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who is also ruled out of the remaining Ashes Tests, is facing a lengthy period out following surgery on his hamstring.

“He had surgery a couple of days ago, so he’ll have a lengthy layoff, I don’t know exactly, but will be at least a few months. Bit of a long road ahead for him, but he’s done it before so hopefully he’ll be back.

“It was a big one, so surgery, and he has his crutches in the change room at the moment so we wish best … it was a shame but he put a brave face after the Test,” Cummins said.

–IANS

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