Australia’s newly-appointed Test captain Pat Cummins has recently opened up on his time when he had played under the former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan and gave the credit to him for motivating him by saying that bowlers can be the captain too. He also revealed how was his stint with Delhi Daredevils under Zaheer Khan in IPL 2017 as well.

However, on Friday, Cricket Australia has officially announced that Pat Cummins will lead the team in the Test format and with this, he became the 47th Test captain. He will replace Tim Paine in the upcoming Ashes series as well as Paine stepped down from the post.

Pat Cummins has stated that Zaheer Khan has helped him at that time and didn’t see any struggle too as well. And, he credited the veteran for helping him with the field changes as well.

READ HERE: Aakash Chopra opens up on New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad

“I really liked his work tactically around T20s. He was just fantastic. Just someone great to bounce bowling ideas off and it was even better that he was at the top of my mark, you know, helping me set fields and tactics. I saw pretty clearly there the benefits of it. I didn’t see too many drawbacks. It’s a different format, but I thought he was fantastic,” Pat Cummins said, as quoted by Perth Now.

He also shared his views on Steve Smith’s appointment as his deputy, citing that he argued for it. The right-arm speedster has shown confidence in the experienced men around him as well.

READ HERE: Shaun Tait explains why speedsters struggle to bowl 150+kmph

“There’s a couple of more unknowns about having a bowling captain. That’s why from the outset I was absolutely determined if I was captain to have someone like Steve as vice-captain. I feel like I’ve got quite a lot of experience to draw on. A lot of the problems or potential issues around being a fast-bowling captain, I’m sure we’ll be able to work through,” Pat Cummins concluded.