Pat Cummins is a player that truly epitomizes the Aussie spirit of never giving up. After making a stellar start to his career, injuries nearly forced him into oblivion but the star all-rounder batted all odds and now proudly sits on the top of the ICC Test bowler rankings.
Pat Cummins is a player that truly epitomizes the Aussie spirit of never giving up. After making a stellar start to his career, injuries nearly forced him into oblivion but the star all-rounder batted all odds and now proudly sits on the top of the ICC Test bowler rankings. He captains Australia in Test and ODI formats.
Pat Cummins started his junior cricket days by playing for for the Glenbrook Cricket Club. He then made his entry in first-class cricket in 2010, playing for Penrith.
The 2010-11 season was the best season for his domestic c ricket and he emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the T20 Big Bash League 2010. In March 2011, he made his first-class debut in a match against Tasmania where he took his maiden four-wicket haul.
Owning to his sheer pace and the ability to hit the deck on a consistent basis, Pat Cummins was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014. however, injuries and lack of opportunities meant that he played only 4 games over the course of the next two seasons.
The Aussie bowler was then bough by Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2017. Cummins played 12 games and picked up 17 wickets. However, he became the most expensive buy in the 2020 IPL Auction after being bagged by KKR for a whopping 15.50 crores (AUD 3.17 million). It is back to purple and gold for pacer Cummins.
He picked 12 wickets in 14 games, including a four-wicket haul in the 2020 IPL season. Cummins played seven matches in the first half of IPL 2021 but decided to skip the second leg in UAE in order to stay beside his wife for the birth of their first child.
Cummins displayed his power-hitting abilities with the bat as he smashed an unbeaten 66 in 34 balls with the help of four boundaries and six sixes. Although KKR lost the match by 18 runs, a new side of Cummins was disclosed to the world.
Cummins was released by KKR ahead of IPL 2022 auction but the franchise picked him for INR 7.25 crores despite intense bidding by both new IPL teams Lucknow and Gujarat for the Australian quick.
Playing in his first game for KKR in IPL 2022, Cummins slammed the joint-fastest fifty in IPL. He hit his fifty in 14 balls against Mumbai Indians to equal the record of KL Rahul. The Aussie speedster also picked seven wickets in five games he played in the season. He was benched in a few games after getting hit for runs.
It is back to purple and gold for pacer Cummins.
Cummins made his debut in Test cricket at an extremely young age of 18, a feat very few people have achieved so far. When Cummins made his debut in Test cricket against South Africa in 2011, people expected too much from him. (Updated first paragraph with minor corrections)
Cummins finished the 2019 Ashes in England with the most wickets - 29 in 10 innings - as Australia retained the urn with a 2-2 result in the five-Test series. Cummins picked 8 and 12 wickets against Pakistan and New Zealand in Australia's summer in 2019.
Cummins picked 21 wickets in four matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 against India. He was the leading wicket-taker of the series from both sides although Australia lost 2-1 on their home turf for the second time in a row.
Cummins replaced Tim Paine as Australia Test skipper just before the 2021-22 Ashes. He once again finished with most wickets in the prestigious Test series with 21 dismissals in four matches at 18.05. This was the third time for Cummins to lead the bowling charts in Ashes.
He accounted for 12 dismissals in the three Tests in Pakistan, including the match-winning figures of 5/56 in Lahore that helped Australia to win their only match and eventually clinch the series 1-0.
Cummins was part of the title-winning Australian squad of 2015 but played just two games due to recurring injury concerns and the availability of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and James Faulkner in the pace department.
In 2019, he was selected for the ODI series against India. In the first ODI, he took 0-48 in the 10 overs whereas in the second ODI he took 4-29. However, it was in the 4th ODI that Cummins claimed his best bowling figures in an ODI with 5/70 that restricted India to 358/9. Cummins picked 31 wickets in 2019 out of which 14 of those were registered in the 2019 ICC World Cup.
On 29 February 2020, Cummins took his 100th ODI wicket in the first match against South Africa. Cummins played just nine ODI matches since cricket resumed in June 2020, after Covid-hiatus. One of the major reason was his elevation to Test captaincy and the shift in more T20I matches apart from the T20 leagues around the globe.
On October 18, 2022, Cummins was named the successor of Aaron Finch in Australia's ODI leadership.
Pat made his international debut against South Africa in the year 2011. It was a two-match T20 series and he took 5 wickets in total, two in the first and three in the second match. Unlike longer formats, Cummins wasn't a regular member of the T20I side. He played just 18 T20 Internationals from 2011 to 2018 and claimed 23 wickets at an average of 20.47.
It is only from 2019 that the Aussie fast bowler has started in the T20I playing XI on a regular basis and also played a key role in Australia's triumph in the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE. He picked five wickets in the tournament and was clinical in the slog overs conceding 7.10 runs per over. Cummins retained his place in the 2022 T20 World Cup hosted by Australia.
Pat Cummins was born on 8 May 1993 to Peter Cummins and Maria Cummins in Westmead, South Australia. He has four siblings which includes two brothers - Tim Cummins and Matt Cummins - and two sisters - Laura Cummins and Kara Cummins.
Pat got engaged to his long-time partner Becky Boston on February 5, 2020. The pair married on August 1, 2022. They have a son named Albie Boston Cummins who was born on October 12, 2021.
