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There is plenty of chatter with more than a week to go in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 opening game. There has been plenty said by current and former cricketers of two countries across both sides of Indian ocean. Nicknamed as 'wild thing' for his sheer pace, the former fast bowler Shaun Tait is the latest entrant to the list. Tait has been impressed with Australian skipper Pat Cummins' bowling, batting and captaincy. He went on to call him the most valuable cricketer on planet earth.
"Pat Cummins has got to be arguably the best cricketer in the world, even with a bat. If you talk about his captaincy as well, he’s a very successful captain of Australia. He’s the number one bowler and he can make runs as well. So from a leadership point of view, he’s maybe the most valuable cricketer on the earth. You look at someone like a Ben Stokes, all-rounder captain, same sort of thing. So it’s a really good package," Tait said in an interaction with Indian Express.
Cummins has led Australia to their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) title. He also helped them win the ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
Tait points out Cummins' 'major strength'
Tait feels Cummins is an all-round cricket package. He recalled when Cummins had an injury early in his career. He lauded the Australian skipper for his relentelss attitude while bowling, not focusing on too much pace unlike him.
"Pat had an injury when he was really young. He’s come back really well. He’s changed his game a little bit. Not going for high extreme pace all the time, but he’s so good at bowling in great areas for a long period of time. That’s Pat’s major strength. He’s relentless in his good areas. He’s always asking questions every single delivery and in a challenging area for the batsman," the 41-year-old said.
Cummins was recently rested for the third and final ODI of the series against Pakistan. His selfie with wife Becky at the Coldplay concert went viral on social media. The pacer will join the team ahead of the first Test at Optus Stadium, Perth starting November 22.
