Ahead of T20I series against India and upcoming T20 World Cup, Australia star pacer Pat Cummins has sent a warning to the Men in Blue as he named his team's ‘X-factor’ for the marquee tournament.
A big name in franchise cricket, Australia hard-hitting sensation Tim David is all set for his International debut against India has made everyone excited including Australia's pace spearhead Cummins.
Tim David shot to fame when the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) title-holders Mumbai Indians (MI) roped in the sough-after franchise cricketer for a whopping Rs 8.25 crore in the IPL 2022 auction.
"We are here in Mohali, we just had our first training session as a team out there on the oval. Really good session, Great to see the new face, on his first ever Aussie tour -- Tim David around. He hit a lot of long balls. I can't wait to see him in action," Cummins told cricket.com.au after Saturday's practice session.
Before they lock horns with each other in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia which is slated to start from October 16, India and Australia will be playing a three-match T20I series from September 20.
"Great to be back in India for the first time since COVID. Can't wait to see all the fans. They are always crazy over here. Hopefully some packed stadiums here, It's always a lot of fun. You feel like a billion people are watching, so I can't wait for it," Cummins added.
With Marcus Stoinis ruled out because of a side strain, the 26-year-old David looks set for his Australian debut. At the nets, he was seen whacking the balls all around the park.
David displayed glimpses of his power-hitting, scoring 186 runs at a strike rate of 216.28 in the IPL 2022, however MI has a lacklustre season as they finished at the bottom of the table.
Terming him the "X factor", the Australian Test skipper further said: "(He) goes about it slightly differently, so look forward to it." "Great to see David get his chance. He has been right up there with the best in the world, batting in the middle-order of T20 cricket is a really tough spot to bat," Cummins later said in a virtual media interaction.
"You see most run-scorers are opening the batting or batting in the top-order. It is hard to be consistent when there are spin bowlers bowling and he has been fantastic. If he gets his chance, hopefully he can continue doing what he has been doing in the domestic T20 league," he added.
Singapore-born Tim David is likely to make debut in Australian colours during the three-match series in India. T20 specialist David, who was raised in Western Australia, burst into the spotlight in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) last season and has become hot property as a hard-hitting finisher in global leagues. His strike-rate was 194.41 in the previous edition at PSL, where he accumulated a staggering 278 runs from 11 encounters.
Cummins also spoke about Virat Kohli's return to form and said the star Indian batter would pose a challenge in the series.
"I saw Virat Kohli, he scored a hundred, yeah he's a class player, he was always going to return to form at some point in time. He's going to be a challenge this next week," Cummins added.
India squad for Australia series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.
Australia Squad for India series: Aaron Finch (Captain), Steven Smith, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Cameron Green, Daniel Sams, Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Australia T20 World Cup squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.