Ashes 2021: Pat Cummins shines on captaincy debut, breaks plethora of records with five-fer vs England
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Pat Cummins was at his very best on captaincy debut as his five-fer bundled out clueless England for 147 in Ashes 2021 opening day. Here's the plethora of records broken by the pacer on captaincy debut:
After Tim Paine's untimely resignation as Australia's Test captain, in the aftermath of the sexting scandal, Pat Cummins was appointed as his successor ahead of Ashes 2021/22. Not often do we see fast bowlers being appointed as the captain, purely because it adds to their workload, however, the No. 1 Test bowler Cummins exceeded expectations on his first day as captain with a five-fer in the first Ashes Test at The Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday (December 8).
Opting to bat first, the Joe Root-led England were off to a disastrous start with Rory Burns clean bowled by Mitchell Starc on the first ball itself. Cummins then dismissed the likes of Haseeb Hameed (25), Ben Stokes (5), Chris Woakes (21), Ollie Robinson (0) and Mark Wood (8) to put his team on top. He returned with 5 for 38 in 13.1 over as England were bowled out for 147 runs in the first innings. Rain interruption, however, led to an early stump on Day 1 without Aussies coming out to bat.
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Here's a look at some of the records broken by Cummins on debut as Aussie Test captain:
With a dream start, Cummins became only the second Australian captain, after George Giffen in 1984, to pick a 5-wicket haul in the first Test as skipper.
In addition, the right-arm pacer joined an elite list of captains, featuring legendary Pakistani skipper Imran Khan, to have claimed a five-wicket haul on his first day as captain. For the unversed, the likes of Charles Aubrey Smith, George Allen and Khan are the first three cricketers to achieve the landmark.
Bowlers to take a 5-for on 1st day as Test captain:
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) December 8, 2021
5-19 CA Smith Eng v SA Port Elizabeth 1889
5-35 GOB Allen Eng v Ind Lord's 1936
7-52 Imran Khan Pak v Eng Birmingham 1982
5-38 PJ Cummins Aus v Eng Brisbane 2021
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With England firmly on the back foot, they will need a herculean effort from their bowlers, sans James Anderson and Stuart Broad, to comeback in the first Test. Australia, on the other hand, will look to weather the storm in the first session on Day 2 and then try to go past England's first-innings score in a flash.
With a splendid effort on the opening day, Cummins will hope to lead his side to a big win in his first Test as captain during the Ashes 2021 opener.