- Cummins was criticized for firing Justin Langer
- Also called to account for its environmental policies
- Ricky Ponting and Tim Paine full of praise after World Cup win
Ricky Ponting has declared it is time for Australian cricket fans to fully embrace Pat Cummins as the national captain after a ‘flawless’ World Cup added to a World Test Championship and a successful Ashes campaign in the space of six months.
Tim Paine, the man who replaced Cummins as Test captain, also said there was ‘nothing’ the now World Cup-winning skipper was wrong in an epic final victory over India that consolidated his place in the history of the game.
Despite his successes since taking over the reins of the team, Cummins has been criticized for his role in the dismissal of former coach Justin Langer and for his views on environmental issues and tactical knowledge, both during the last Ashes series and even early in the World Cup .
Cummins (pictured celebrating World Cup victory in Australia’s dressing room) was ‘almost flawless’ during the World Cup, according to Ricky Ponting
The former Australian skipper (pictured left with Marnus Labuschagne during Australia’s World Cup campaign) says there is ‘no real basis’ for negativity when it comes to Cummins
But Ponting was convinced that the criticism had always been misleading and that the World Cup victory was as much down to Cummins’ leadership as to his team’s efforts on the field.
“I think that was almost flawless, to be honest,” Ponting said after Australia’s six-wicket victory.
“I thought his leadership improved throughout the tournament.
‘I don’t know where the negativity comes from because there is no real basis for it.
“If you look at their overall Test record since he became captain, it is excellent. And now he’s a World Cup-winning captain, a World Test Championship-winning captain and an Ashes-retained captain, so now the negativity has to be put aside because there have been a number of moments – think back the first Test of the Ashes – where he stood up and actually did the job himself.
The Test and one-day skipper (pictured centre, celebrating with Josh Hazlewood, left, and Mitchell Starc, right) recorded one of the biggest wins of his career in Ahmedabad
“Under extreme pressure with a bat or a ball, when his team is in trouble, he is usually the one who has changed the course of the game, so he definitely deserves all the credit that comes his way when it comes to leadership.”
Paine was effusive in his praise for Cummins, who took it upon himself to bowl long spells in the final while rotating his other bowlers, having also made crucial runs in the miracle win over Afghanistan in the pool matches and in the victory in the semi-finals. over South Africa.
“I don’t think Pat Cummins made a mistake last night. He was outstanding and he deserves a lot of credit for that,” he told SEN.
“I thought Pat Cummins had one of the great games as captain and when he bowled it was as good as I’ve seen him for a while.
Ex-Aussie skipper Tim Paine (pictured) believes Cummins was perfect in the World Cup final, both as captain and bowler
“He hasn’t had his best World Cup but last night, and we’ve talked about this a lot, Australia has players who step up in the big moments because they’ve been there before and Cummins did that not just with his leadership but with the ball.
“When he went full speed he hit the wicket hard and I thought he set the tone. His captaincy was brilliant, his bowling was excellent and we were brilliant in the fielding too.”
Cummins has captained the Australians to the World Test Championship, Ashes and World Cup in the same calendar year.