Australia’s Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has recently selected the best XI he has played for the national team in the longer format of the game. In a podcast with Willow Talk Cricket Podcast, Cummins overlooked players like Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and Tim Paine in his selection for the best XI.
Cummins will miss the first match of the 2025-26 Ashes in Perth on November 21 due to his back injury.
There is a strong possibility that Steve Smith may be sidelined for most, if not all, of the upcoming series as he is expected to take over the captaincy. Cummins also did not play in the recent T20 series in New Zealand.
Pat Cummins names his best XI among Australia’s Test teammates
When Pat Cummins was asked to choose the final eleven he played for Australia in Test matches, he chose David Warner as one of the opening batsmen along with Travis Head. The right-arm fast bowler favored Head to open the innings despite playing in the middle order during red-ball matches.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is followed by the two left-handed opening batsmen at No. 3, followed by modern-day great Steve Smith at No. 4. Ponting is Australia’s leading run-scorer in Tests with 13,378 runs, while Smith is fourth with 10,477 runs.
Michael Clarke, who had captained the team in Cummins’ first Test, came next. Cummins chose Michael Hussey at number six, who played several memorable innings during the team’s dominance. Hussey scored 6,235 runs in 79 Test matches at an average of 51.53, including 19 centuries and 29 half-centuries.
Pat Cummins excludes Mitchell Johnson from his best Test XI
Cummins went in with Alex Carey as the wicketkeeper-batsman ahead of Tim Paine, Matthew Wade and Brad Haddin. He chose three fast bowlers and one spinner for the bowling attack of his best Test XI.
The fast bowler chose Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Josh Hazlewood as his fast bowlers. He supported Nathan Lyon as the only spinner in the attack. Lyon is the third highest wicket taker in Tests for Australia, with 562 wickets to his name.
Pat Cummins Best Test XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, james pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh (12th man)
Pat Cummins is currently out of the field due to injury
Pat Cummins is currently out of action with a stress injury to his lower back, and his recovery is taking longer than initially expected. The 32-year-old has been suffering from a pelvic strain since the conclusion of the West Indies series earlier this year and has not bowled a single ball since then.
Cummins has also been ruled out of the upcoming limited overs matches against India at home. He led Australia to consecutive World Test Championship finals and secured the title in 2023.
Despite their absence, Australia’s pace attack remains strong, with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood confirmed as the opening players for the upcoming Perth Test. Scott Boland, who established himself as a reliable option in recent summers, is now expected to be included as the third seamer.
Also read: Yashasvi Jaiswal got place in place of Rohit Sharma in Gautam Gambhir’s ODI team!
