T20 World Cup 2022: Ricky Ponting opens debate on Pat Cummins - but is it justified?

Ricky Ponting suggested the team could think of going with one less fast bowling option and bring in Cameron Green, further saying that it might well be Pat Cummins who makes way. 

“If they are thinking about a quick going out, and this is going to be a tough decision for the selectors, but if they are thinking about that, then maybe it is Cummins that goes out and Green comes in,” Ricky Ponting said at the MCG on Thursday. 

“They might have the luxury of playing the extra batsman and maybe let Green go to the top and tee off, or they use him as a floater in the middle order somewhere."

“Whichever way they go they’re going to have to take a real risk and [throw] caution to the wind and try and win that game as quickly and as comfortably as they can. If they lose trying to win it well then that’s the way it is.” 

It is worth looking at the player he’s suggested sit out to understand why the comments got such a mixed reaction. Pat Cummins is generally one of the more well-liked cricketers from Australia. 

He’s also a natural leader, evidenced by the fact he was handed the captaincy in the Test format, becoming the first fast bowler in decades to lead the side. 

But is his place in the T20I scheme of things justified as things stand? Well, yes and no. 

Yes, because his performances in the shortest format for Australia are decent. His statistics in the format read as follows: 49 games, 55 wickets, an economy of 7.14, and a strike rate of 19.5 with an average of 24.14. 

However, Pat Cummins has been expensive in the T20 World Cup 2022 – and doesn’t quite have the wickets to justify being kept in the playing XI. 

This has been evident in his domestic T20 career too. He doesn’t often play the Big Bash League but has been a consistent feature in the Indian Premier League for the past few years. 

And it is his IPL numbers that make for less than flattering reading. His career economy in the tournament is at 8.54 – but in 2021 and 2022, it was 8.83 and 10.69, respectively. 

The economy has always been an issue for Pat Cummins, even if his wicket-taking is generally decent. But perhaps what hurts him the most is that he isn’t as effective as his peers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the format. 

Thus, if, as Ricky Ponting suggests, Australia chooses to go with one less pacer, Cummins will most likely get the short end of the stick. 

But it is still not likely that it will happen – mainly because it would be too big a risk to take, not only to compromise the bowling but also to drop the team’s Test captain over a few bad performances. 

One feels that a call on Pat Cummins’ T20I career may be taken later, but doing so now would be unwise – harsh, even.