Australia are due to take on India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11.

After the one-off Test against India, Australia will face England in a five-match Ashes series, beginning June 16 at Edgbaston.

While Australia and England have a historic Ashes rivalry, skipper Pat Cummins wants to focus on WTC final for now and take the coveted trophy home.

“We’ve got India in the World Test Championship final first, which I think a lot of people forgot,” Cummins told reporters on Saturday (June 3).

Australia’s poor over rate in the Melbourne Test against India cost them a few points and kept them away from making the WTC final in the inaugural edition.

Cummins said it wasn’t until they witnessed India and New Zealand competing in the final in Southampton two years ago that it hit them.

“I think being new, it probably didn’t hit us until the game was actually played, and you saw over there [in England] New Zealand did well and you wish you were there,” Cummins said at the start of the Australian Test summer last year, as quoted by the Age.

“It feels like second time around it’s got a little bit more on it. It felt like a big missed opportunity that first one. So it certainly gives a bit more context to every series now, something big to play for.

Sharing his thoughts on WTC, the Australian captain said that the championship provides “global context” and something to compete for.

“The big series, say Ashes or India series where you play four or five Test matches, are obviously big battles, whereas the more common series where you play two or three in a series, it [the World Test Championship] gives them a bit more global context and something a bit extra to play for,” Cummins remarked.

(The Indian Express Inputs)