Former Australian captain Ian Chappell said that Pat Cummins has gone above and beyond in being a ‘good’ captain. He also added that the 30-year-old has improved a lot as a captain as well. However, Cummins created history in the 2023 World Cup by guiding Australia to their 6th title victory, beating Team India in front of a record crowd in Ahmedabad. The veteran has also brought his A-game with the ball in the final and impressed everyone.
Speaking to Wide World of Sports, Ian Chappell stated about Cummins’ captaincy: “I think he’s gone beyond being a good captain, he’s a very good captain. I probably thought he would be a good captain, now I think he’s better than that, that’s probably the surprise. If you don’t develop as a captain you don’t last very long. I thought right from the start that he’d be a good captain and it’s turned out he’s probably been better than I thought he’d be. I think he’s been terrific.”
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However, he also made a brave call by choosing fielding first in the final. He finished with impressive figures of 10-0-34-2, dismissing Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. And, Chappell also believes Pat Cummins has been inspirational enough to lead the team’s turnaround.
“I’ve never had a coach, I don’t believe in them. The fact the team had so much belief in itself, I think that’s attributed to Pat Cummins, they had belief in him as a bowler, they also had belief in his captaincy. I think Pat’s the most inspirational player in that Australian side, and has been for a number of years, I think that inspiration has seeped through to the team so I tend to think that the captain and the players are the ones that deserve the most credit,” Ian Chappell concluded.