Pat Cummins will captain Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series later this year.
Cummins, who recently completed his debut in Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States, has been given a vacation from Australia's limited-overs tour of the United Kingdom next month.
This choice was taken to properly manage his workload while also allowing him to focus on his physical training in preparation for a busy summer.
"Everyone that comes back after a break is a little bit fresher, you never regret it. I've basically been bowling non-stop since the World Test Championship final, nearly 18 months ago. This gives me a good seven or eight weeks completely off bowling so the body can recover, and then I start building up again for the summer. It means you can hopefully bowl for a little bit longer, maintaining pace is a bit easier, makes you less susceptible to injuries,” Cummins told Fox Sports.
Since 2023, Cummins has had a hectic schedule in international and league cricket. He started with an ODI series against India, the ICC World Cup win, three Test matches against Pakistan, two Tests against the West Indies, a T20 tour in New Zealand, two Test matches against New Zealand, the IPL 2024, the T20 World Cup 2024, and the MLC tournament.
"I'm very sore today after a week of the gym. Hamstrings, even ankles, kind of build up over months of bowling, but you can't really nail it while you're in the midst of the season. I'll be doing lots of gym, some running, a lot of rehab exercise that you just can't really fit in the middle of the season,” he added.
India will play a five-Test series in Australia for the first time since 1992. Australia has not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since 2017, with India winning four consecutive times. This includes their remarkable successes in Australia during the 2018-19 and 2020-21 tours.
As the captain, Cummins is determined to lead his team to victory and claim the trophy on home soil this season.
"It's the trophy I haven't won before... this is the one trophy a lot of our group haven't ticked off. We've achieved some amazing things over the last few years as a Test group. You kind of back yourself to win every series at home. I think you need to try and be up there in the upper echelon of teams.
That's what lies ahead of us this summer. They (India) are a really good side. We play them quite a lot, we know them really well, but we feel like we're really well placed also," he added.
Cummins has no plans to retire from Twenty20 cricket in the immediate future. He hopes to help Australia win a gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which will include cricket for the first time in the event's history.
"Watching the Olympics, it got us all excited. You want to be part of it right there in the middle. I'd love to be on that side (at LA 2028). I think I'll be 35 or something, so hopefully still there or thereabouts. Honestly, right now, it feels a long way away. Maybe once we get closer and start building into it, everyone gets a bit more excited," he concluded.
(Fox Sports inputs)