Cummins, Starc to take on added duties for Oz vs India in Hazlewood’s absence

Australia captain Pat Cummins says he and fellow pace bowler Mitchell Starc will have to take on added duties in the absence of the injured Josh Hazlewood if pitches continue to be as seam-friendly as they have been in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane in the five-Test series against India.

The third Test ended in a rain-affected draw in Brisbane on Wednesday and the series is level at 1-1. India won the first Test by 295 runs at Perth, while Australia came back to win the second day-night Test in Adelaide by 10 wickets.

Hazlewood, who missed the Adelaide Test due to side soreness, it out for the rest of the series with a calf injury.

India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah leads all bowlers in the series with 21 wickets, while Cummins and Starc have 14 each.

Cummins said on Thursday he was hopeful that both he and Starc would play the remaining Tests - the Boxing Day match starting Dec. 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Sydney Test beginning Jan.3.

“Nothing is for certain,” he said. “See how we pull up. But today we’re both fine so I can’t see that changing. It was hot yesterday but physically outside of that we’re good to go.

“We’d had about seven days or so off bowling after Adelaide so we were fresh and ready to go. If anything, the rain breaks (in Brisbane) actually helped us get a bit of a break.”

If Australia cannot beat India in both Melbourne and Sydney, the side will need to win at least one Test on Galle’s turning wickets in Sri Lanka next month to keep their World Test Championship title defense alive. It is believed Hazlewood could be back running early in the new year and be fit to return for the two-Test Sri Lanka tour.

Cummins’ wife Becky is due to give birth around the time of the Sri Lanka matches, placing him in possible doubt for one of them. The Galle Tests are scheduled to begin on Jan.29 and Feb.6.

Meanwhile, with his ‘slingshot’ delivery and ability to unsettle the world’s best batsmen, India’s Jasprit Bumrah is widely regarded as one of cricket’s greatest fast bowlers.

The 31-year-old has defied career-threatening back problems and on Wednesday overtook Kapil Dev to become India’s leading Test wicket-taker in Australia. Bumrah, India’s player of the series so far, took nine wickets in the third Test at Brisbane to move to 53 in Australia and past Dev’s previous mark of 51.

Agencies