Cummins eyeing IPL return for match preparation ahead of WTC final

Melbourne [Australia], February 21 : Australian skipper Pat Cummins, missed his side's final ICC World Test Championship (WTC), a tour to Sri Lanka and the ICC Champions Trophy due to the birth of his second child and an ankle injury, is targeting a return to competitive cricket during the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he leads the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise.
Cummins had been suffering due to an ankle issue sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he bowled 167 overs, most by any bowler, to pick up 25 scalps.
Cummins, whose next biggest international assignment is the ICC WTC final against South Africa at Lord's from June 11 onwards, is confident that the upcoming IPL season, starting from March 22, will mark his return to cricket and prepare him enough to take back the captaincy role during the all-important clash for the Test mace.
Speaking as quoted by cricket.com.au, Cummins said, "The ankle is starting to come good. It is a funny one - it is not like a hamstring, where you need six weeks (to recover). It is one of those ones where it really just needs a bit (more) rest to settle down. I have been doing loads of rehab in the gym and trying to build back up slowly."
"Especially for a fast bowler, you have got to kind of step towards things. Once you have a bit of time off, you have got to start running again, and then you got to start bowling, and start building up. So we just ran out of time for Pakistan (CT2025)".
"It is not necessarily a new (injury), it is not anything that is going to be long-term, but it is just one of those ones you have got to manage. A bit of a break now, hopefully, it sets it up for the next year or so," he concluded.
Cummins feels that the intensity and workload offered by the world's most cash-rich, high-profile league will result in adequate physical and mental match preparation for him ahead of the WTC final and a three-Test tour to West Indies that will follow for the next WTC cycle.
"That is the aim. It is four overs in T20s. So physically, it is quite a nice build-up for the World Test Championship final, and then the Test matches after that."
"That is the aim at this stage - start bowling over the next week or so, building up, and should be right for IPL. It is probably just making sure you are still bowling quite a few balls (during the IPL). The good thing about a T20 tournament is the intensity is really high so that obviously helps quite a bit."
"But maybe the back half of the tournament, you ball a few extra balls in warm-ups and nets, just to make sure your body is used to bowling quite a bit. I feel like it is a little bit different now that I am 30 now as opposed to my early 20s. I feel like my body has had plenty of balls in it over the years, and it is pretty hardened," he added.
Speaking about his time away from the game, which saw him and his wife welcome their second child, Edi, early in February, Cummins said, "It has been an amazing month or so just having full focus on family time and not having to do too much training or have my eye on a tour. Just being totally present has been really special."
"It was weird watching the Sri Lanka Test series. I have not seen the boys play on TV really for years. They were fantastic, the boys were basically faultless. I could follow along and just enjoy it, really," he signed off.