New Delhi [India], May 8 : One of Australia's most successful captains, Pat Cummins, turned 32 on Thursday and celebrated the occasion with his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates.
Sunrisers Hyderabad shared glimpses of Cummins' birthday celebrations on X and captioned the post, "How it started, how it ended. Pat Cummins | #PlayWithFire". In one of the pictures, the people around the Hyderabad skipper poured drinks on him.
Cummins, who had been tipped to be a future star since his youth, made his Test debut for Australia at 18 but had to wait six years for his next appearance. Injuries struck him during that phase when he struggled to handle the workload.
When he burst onto the scene in 2017, the towering right-armer emerged as a thoroughbred quick with the potential and tools to become the best in the world. He kicked off his fairytale career with a sizzling total of seven wickets, which helped Australia square the series against South Africa at the Wanderers.
Under dramatic circumstances in late 2021, Cummins was handed Australia's Test captaincy, and two years later, he had led Australia to the World Test Championship mace and the ODI World Cup title.
On both occasions, Cummins tactically outclassed India in the final to walk away with the trophy in his hands. With the deadly arsenal at his disposal, he staged India's downfall with the ball after a swashbuckling display from Steven Smith (121) and Travis Head (163), which powered Australia to a daunting 46. In reply, India folded on 296 and never recovered from it as Australia lifted its maiden WTC title with an emphatic 209-run victory.
In the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad, Cummins silenced the entire nation by removing India's batting maestro Virat Kohli and then the in-form Shreyas Iyer to break the backbone of India's middle-order. India limped to 240, which Australia gunned down with a six-wicket win and seven overs to spare, courtesy of Head's rollicking 137.
With Cummins at the helm, Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade. After a record-shattering defeat in Perth, the Baggy Greens regrouped and blazed their way to a 3-1 series win.
His record remains unblemished as a captain in cricket's most decorated rivalry against England, the Ashes. In nine fixtures, Cummins has steered Australia to five victories and boasts a win percentage of 71.42 per cent.
While looking at his format-wise influence, the 32-year-old has 294 wickets under his belt in 67 Test appearances. In 57 T20Is Cummins has scalped 66 wickets at 23.57 while striking at 19.00. In the ODIs, the Australian Test skipper has 143 wickets in 90 appearances.
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