Cummins coped a string of injuries after his memorable Test debut.
He claimed seven-wicket haul on his debut Test match at Johannesburg to script Australia’s two-wicket victory, but what followed was a series of injuries that kept the speedster out of the team for six years, that left him "ultra frustrated".
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In fact, Cummins recently admitted that he was plagued with doubts during that difficult phase.
"People at that time were even talking saying 'he's made it', 'you've played a Test, you've become man of the match' whereas in my head I thought, in my changing room I've got Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey — these guys are legends for 15, 20 years.
"I've got so much to prove and just being not able to … [It was] really hard, each injury was … that was the main thing, just the amount of cricket I felt like I was losing,” he said while speaking on ABC Grandstand's The Phil Davis Podcast.
But all that is behind him now, and Cummins has now played 30 Tests and picked up 143 wickets.
The 27-year-old pacer said he spent the time out of the side learning how to be patient, all the while tweaking his bowling action.
"[I was] trying to do things with a bit more sustainability rather than just trying to get that one tour and put everything into that one tour which might cost me the next 12 months," Cummins stated.
"[Having to work on my action] was the hardest psychological challenge for me. I had this action that I knew worked, I felt really good about it.
"A lot of those expectations were just myself wanting to be straight back into the Aussie team, and wanting to prove myself … straight away, but these things take time," he further said.
Pat Cummins also admitted that it wasn't easy watching Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc play the number of games they did in his absence. However, he was happy for their achievements.
"But I believe, once I got back in the Aussie Test side, those two guys [Hazlewood and Starc] have had the biggest influence on my career, by a mile," he concluded.