Australia captain Pat Cummins stated on Tuesday that cricketers are “not robots,” despite his country’s Twenty20 side underperforming in India only days after winning the 50-over World Cup.
Seven members of Australia’s World Cup-winning side remained in India for a five-match T20 series that began four days after the November 19 final.
The first two matches were won by a second-string India team, and sources in Australia indicated Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe, and Chris Green were among the reinforcements brought to relieve the flagging World Cup heroes.
With a full domestic cricket season ahead, featuring test series against Pakistan and the West Indies, Cummins acknowledged the strain on the players, some of whom have been in India since September.
“They’re humans, not robots,” he said to reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“Putting everything into a World Cup and then playing a couple of days later – I probably don’t begrudge them if they’re not at 100 per cent.”
“These are still games for Australia,” the skipper added, “and it’s great that these tours do provide opportunities for some of the younger guys, or guys who might not be in the first eleven.”
“I think these are important tours and you can get a lot out of them.”
David Warner, who was dropped from the T20 squad on the eve of the India series, is poised to retire from test cricket after the Pakistan series.
Warner’s test place has been called into question following a poor run of red-ball play, although the 37-year-old was Australia’s highest scorer in the World Cup, with 535 runs.
Warner is “hitting the ball beautifully at the moment,” according to Cummins.
“He wasn’t just playing for himself out there, he would go and take the game on, be really brave, and really take it to the opposition,” he added of Warner’s performances in India.
The first test against Pakistan is scheduled for December 14 in Perth, followed by a Boxing Day fixture in Melbourne. The third and final test will take place on January 3, 2024, at Warner’s home ground, Sydney Cricket Ground.
