Australia desperate to make it 2-2: Cummins

SYDNEY: Australia’s record at home, of not conceding a series to India, will be at stake when the two sides face off in the final Test of the four-match series in Sydney from January 3.

The home side’s most successful pacer in this series, Pat Cummins, is aware of what Australia will be up against, terming the current scoreline of 2-1 in favour of India as a “fair reflection” of Australia’s performance against the top-ranked side in the world.

With India having already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy following their victory in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Cummins said Australia will be keen to make amends at the SCG in their attempt to square the series. “We spoke at the start of the series about the record that we’ve got to try to hang onto,” Cummins said on Tuesday “2-1 is a pretty fair reflection of how we’ve played the series so far, you can see why they’re the No. 1 Test side in the world. Not only at home but they also travel really well.”

Apart from the failure of their top order to come up with big scores, the Australian pacers have also struggled with the old ball, with their Indian counterparts proving to be better in terms of their wicket-taking abilities once the ball has lost its shine.