'Australia’s greatest cricketer after Sir Don,' ex-England skipper feels Pat Cummins will leave a legacy behind just like Sir Don Bradman

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Gouri Das | Last updated 1/4/24

Australian captain Pat Cummins had a great 2023 because he became the first captain to win two ICC (International Cricket Council) trophies in the same year. Under him, the Aussies lifted the World Test Championships (WTC) in June by beating India at Lord’s, then defeated the same team in the 2023 ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad. That victory was their record-extending sixth one in the World Cup.

Cummins also led his team to retain the Ashes trophy and win the Benaud-Qadir Trophy. In the Boxing Day Test match against Pakistan, he even bagged two five-wicket hauls and picked up another fifer in the New Year’s Test against the same team.

Then in the auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL), franchises went into a war to purchase the Aussie skipper despite his not playing the league regularly. He was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for INR 20.75 crore. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan thinks Cummins will leave a legacy behind just like Sir Donald Bradman.

Pat Cummins, in time-don't think he's ever going to surpass Sir Don [Bradman], [but] I think Cummins is going to end up being Australia's greatest cricketer after Sir Don.

Vaughan said on Fox Cricket

Pat Cummins is the ninth-highest wicket-taker for Australia

Pat Cummins ended 2023 with 59 wickets from 24 matches (42 in Tests and 17 in ODIs). His best bowling figures were of 6/91.

He stands in ninth place in terms of the most wickets scalped for Australia in international cricket, with 453 scalps from 196 matches. The first on the list is the late Shane Warner who scalped 1,001 wickets.

Not just with the ball, Cummins also displayed his batting in the Ashes and World Cup in 2023. The most memorable of those was his 44* against England in the first Ashes Test and another one was his patient knock of 12* in a double-century stand with Glenn Maxwell against Afghanistan in the World Cup.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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