HE WAS NOT supposed to be the one lifting the World Cup in Ahmedabad. His team had spent a night at the bottom of the table early in the tournament, and his opposition in the final had breezed through unbeaten.
But he was also not supposed to captain Australia in the 2021-22 Ashes, when captain Tim Paine resigned over a sexting scandal. Australia won those Ashes 4-0.
That is Pat Cummins for you. Not only is he a fast-bowling Australian captain the first since Ray Lindwall in 1956-he also breaks the mould of what an Aussie skipper should be. Or at least how the rest of the cricketing world sees one. They are supposed to be aggressive, ruthless, in-your-face, beer-guzzling, hard-nosed, sledging-for-pleasure "alpha males". Not all of those qualities are negative in sport, and Cummins might even have some of them inside him. But, as captain, he has been composed, pragmatic, frank and professional.
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