Australian captain Pat Cummins has said that he has already planned to skip the Scotland and England tour to prepare for the upcoming home season as well. The veteran has stated that his firm focus is on gearing up for the home Test series against India as well. In a bid to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia will take on India in a five-Test series, beginning on November 23. The Aussies lost the last two Test series to India on home soil and Cummins will hope to lead their side to a win this time as well.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Cummins, who is currently playing in Major League Cricket (MLC), said, “That window has always been earmarked as a time to really give my body a rest and do close to a full pre-season. I should get six or eight weeks off bowling and then build up again. Once this MLC opportunity came up and we mapped out the plan, it didn’t really change much.”

“I’ll get home, I’ll have a good six or eight weeks off bowling where I’ll get in the gym every day, do some running, and get some strength back into my body. And then we’ve got a big Test match series [against India] for our home summer, so that’ll be the focus,” he further added.

However, Pat Cummins has had a busy last few months. He played all the matches in IPL 2024, leading the SunRisers Hyderabad to the final. He travelled almost immediately to the West Indies for T20 World Cup 2024 and had a short break before playing for the San Francisco Unicorns for MLC 2024.

“Everyone’s a little bit more realistic about the schedules nowadays. We spend ten-plus months of the year away on the road, so some tours probably carry a little bit more importance than others. For the guys that play all three formats, you’re always trying to make sure you’re peaking for those major events – and it feels like there’s been about ten major events in the last 18 months, so I haven’t really taken much time to reinvest back in my body,” Pat Cummins concluded.