Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Pat Cummins confident of turning the tide after opening Test loss

Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted the heavy loss to India in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was hard to take but remains confident in his team’s ability to recover in the rest of the series.  

India pulled off an incredible comeback at the Optus Stadium after a poor first innings where they were bowled out for just 150. They fought back by dismissing Australia for 104, gaining a small but crucial 46-run lead.  

The visitors then piled on a massive second-innings total of 487/6, with brilliant centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli. This set Australia a daunting target of 534 runs. The home side could only manage 238, losing by a big margin of 295 runs.  

After the match, Cummins reflected on the painful defeat. “Look, I think you kind of sit in the change room after a loss like that and it hurts,” he said. “When a team declares on you, it’s never an amazing feeling. We’ve all been in these situations before.”  

He emphasized the importance of bouncing back. “The biggest challenge and the most important thing is how do you bounce back, what’s your next move? Clearly, we were well off the mark, there’s a lot to work on,” he added.  

The Australian skipper is optimistic about the remainder of the series. “The most important thing is there’s four Test matches to come and how do we make sure that we don’t be in this position again.”  

Cummins also backed Marnus Labuschagne, who has struggled for form recently, averaging only 13.66 in his last 10 Test innings. “I think after every Test you always kind of look at what you think your best match-up is,” he said.  

“Four or five days ago, we thought this was our best 11, so I dare say there won’t be many changes going into Adelaide, but I’m not a selector. I’m sure they’ll get together after the game, but yeah, not to be today and we’ve got a bit of work to do over the next 10 days.”  

Australia will now focus on preparing for the second Test in Adelaide as they aim to level the five-match series.