Australia are full of confidence after winning their maiden T20 World Cup title and they will bring that confidence into their Ashes series against England as well, pace bowler Pat Cummins said on Wednesday. Notably, Australia beat New Zealand by eight wickets in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday and six players from the winning team will take part in the Ashes series.
Cummins, who along with the pace duo Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were part of the winning team in Dubai, said that clinching the title was a huge moment for them. “Absolutely, I think we’ll take confidence from it,” vice-captain Cummins told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s a different format but you saw somebody like (batter) Davey Warner, player of the tournament, that’s going to have huge confidence for him going into the summer.”
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He continued: “As an Australian side, I think we all probably felt like we’ve underperformed a little bit in the last few years, haven’t won as many games as we’d probably expect. So to get back out and win a title on the world stage … it can be era-defining for a side. So everyone’s just absolutely buzzing, really excited for what’s next.”
Meanwhile, Australia has not played a Test since losing to India at the Gabba earlier this year, where they lost by 2-1 as well. However, they have reached home on Tuesday and currently undergoing a two-week COVID-19 quarantine in southern Queensland. Although they are able to train with each other during this time, they will have only one three-day warmup match with other players in Brisbane before the Ashes opener at the Gabba on December 8.
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“I always feel it’s better to be underdone than overdone coming into a big Test series. My body feels as good as it has in a couple of years. There’s no niggles, I feel really fresh. I think we’ve given ourselves the best chance to bowl plenty of overs and do well this summer,” Pat Cummins concluded.
