Cricket World Cup 2023: How Pat Cummins silenced captaincy critics, won Steve Waugh’s backing

Pat Cummins was a captain under intense pressure after Australia’s Ashes fadeout. Now, he’s won the backing of one of the countries greatest leaders. Here’s how he defied the critics.

Pat Cummins and the senior statesmen around him are fast becoming some of Australia’s finest trophy hunters, without quite getting the recognition they deserve.

Many (this writer included) questioned whether Cummins could really be in Australia’s best and most balanced XI for a World Cup in Indian conditions, given his bowling record in one-dayers was inferior to fellow cartel members Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Heading into Sunday’s final against India, Starc and Hazlewood’s bowling numbers have stood up as better, but although Cummins’ impact on this World Cup can’t be measured by statistics, it has been nothing short of immense, and the skipper has silenced critics.

There was a watch on Cummins’ captaincy after Australia faded badly in the second half of the Ashes, but World Cup-winning icon Steve Waugh for one saw this emphatic comeback in India coming.

Pat Cummins has led with authority at the World Cup. Picture: Arun Sankar

“When I was asked if he should be captain, I said it would make him a better player. I was all for it,” Waugh told this masthead on Friday.

“It was a challenge, and he’s still learning for sure.

“I think he’s a really good leader, because people follow him.

“They like him. They respect him.

“His captaincy is on the improve. It’s something you’re not great at straight away. You learn on the job as I did and he’s improving and the team is responding well.

“He’s done a good job.”

The biggest testimony to the effectiveness of Cummins’ leadership is the way Australia has held its nerve after being thrashed in their first two World Cup group games.

Australia was injury plagued, it was not playing good cricket, there was a multitude of problems, but Cummins’ effuses calmness, and his players have followed.

Pat Cummins is congratulated after a miraclous catch to remove Quinton de Kock. Picture: Dibyangshu Sarkar

A similar compliment can be paid to the coach Andrew McDonald, who has pulled off a remarkable job in managing his team through the post-Ashes lag which England has blamed for its capitulation at the World Cup.

If Australia had lost a third match to start the World Cup against Sri Lanka or Pakistan with Travis Head watching from his lounge room in Adelaide, the knives would have been out for the selection panel.

But McDonald and George Bailey backed their gut, knowing if they were to win the title they would need T Head in the line-up, and their gumption was rewarded in spades by the South Australian’s man-of-the-match performance with bat and ball in the semi-final thriller against South Africa.

Cummins might have gone back to the 1980s with his batting strike rate at this World Cup, but he has been part of three partnerships which have kept Australia alive in the tournament – another testament to why he has proven he is worthy of selection in any format, in any conditions, in any situation.

Cummins has been part of three crucial partnerships at the World Cup. Picture: Pankaj Nangia/Gallo Images/Getty Images

The analysts might have technically been right arguing that Australia’s unorthodox mix of three specialist fast bowlers and only one spinner was the wrong balance in India, but Cummins’ has contributed more than a second spinner could have simply by being a special cricketer.

If Australia can upset India on Sunday night in Ahmedabad, this team deserves recognition as a great era of Australian cricket.

The nucleus, Cummins’ included, were part of the 2015 ODI World Cup triumph on home soil. They also fueled the drought-breaking 2021 Twenty20 World Cup win.

They are the current holders of the Ashes and the World Test Championship.

Not winning the Ashes is no doubt a shortfall, and the one obvious black mark is this Australian team’s unflattering record against India, home and away.

But if Cummins’ can inspire his team to an against-all-odds triumph on Sunday, many of those missed opportunities will be compensated for by the rarest of World Cup heists.

To put it in perspective, Virat Kohli - the GOAT of ODI cricket - has only one World Cup to his name.

“The team has done really well and if you win a World Cup that’s a real feather in your cap as a leader,” Waugh said.

“That’s a legacy you can leave. You can never have that taken away from you.

“It’s a big moment for him (Cummins) and the team.

“They’ve missed a couple of opportunities (including the Ashes) and for some of these players, they won’t get that again. This final is a big moment for this team.”