Australian coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney on January 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

A wide grin plastered on his face, Pat Cummins strode into the press-conference hall at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday (January 5, 2025). Looking at the just concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, the Australian captain said: “It is a huge win. I felt it was kind of see-sawing throughout the whole series, so to finish it at 3-1 and to hold the trophy is an amazing feeling.”

Reflecting on the last few months, Cummins said: “We grew up watching Test cricket, loving it, so to be right in the mix, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world for these couple of months.”

With Virat Kohli probably having played his last set of Tests in Australia, Cummins was quick to praise: “It has always been a wonderful contest (against him). More than just the runs that he brings to the game, it is also the debate he stirs, sometimes it can roil you as an opposition, which I am sure is part of his plans. It will be a shame if he doesn’t play any more Tests here.”

Asked about the turnaround after the loss in the first Test at Perth, Cummins said: “We always knew we had a good team. The message was to stay strong. To get the selections right.” The host skipper praised his team, especially key players like Scott Boland and debutant Beau Webster.

As for the imminent tour of Sri Lanka, Cummins hinted that he might skip as he is expecting his second child: “Becky’s (his wife) hanging on at the moment, so we will play it by ear. But I think, mostly I might struggle to get over there (Sri Lanka).”

Virat Kohli reacts with his teammates during the presentation ceremony. India lost the final and fifth Test against Australia, in Sydney on January 5, 2025. With this win Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and also entered the WTC finals.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Twice over seven days, Gautam Gambhir has turned up for press-conferences. The first time, he did not commit on whether Rohit Sharma, the regular captain, would play. And during the second time he met the media at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney on Sunday (January 5, 2025), the Indian coach refused to reveal a clear road-map for seniors Rohit and Virat Kohli.

“I can’t talk about the future of any player, it’s up to them. But yes, they still have the hunger, they still have the passion, they are tough people and hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward but ultimately as we all know, whatever they plan, they will plan for the best interest of Indian cricket,” Gambhir said.

When pressed about Rohit opting out of the fifth Test, Gambhir replied: “First of all, so many reports were written . We can be a little more sensible. If a leader has taken this decision, I don’t think there is any problem. We talked about accountability and that starts from the top and Rohit started that in the match.”

Reflecting on the series loss against Australia, Gambhir said: “I don’t want to say that because Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t there we couldn’t get the results. We had some moments and it would have been nice if he was there, but we still had five bowlers and a good team is one which is not dependent on one individual. We had our moments in this series. That last session in Melbourne, if we had played well and were at 1-1, the pressure on Australia would have been greater. Here in the second innings, if we left a target of 250 to 300, things would have been difficult.”

Gambhir drew heart from the performance of youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep. The coach termed Bumrah as ‘outstanding’ and praised Mohammed Siraj: “The attitude of Siraj was outstanding. I don’t remember a guy who has run in (hard) for every ball despite at times not being 100 per cent fit.”

The former India opener also batted for domestic cricket: “I would like everyone to play domestic cricket. If you don’t give importance to domestic cricket, you will never get the players you want in Test cricket.”

Australia’s Pat Cummins being presented with the Border-Gavaskar trophy by Allan Border after winning the fifth Test in Sydney on January 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Inside the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), children ran in that fumbling, happy way. The more adventurous ones did the odd somersault. Some of the Australian cricketers were lying sprawled on the grass, allowing all that ecstasy and relief to seep into them while their families hung around.

Beau Webster, with a lovely debut under his belt, stood close to the pitch and posed with his family for pictures. Pat Cummins and his men were in a happy space. And there was double joy to be savoured. Besides defeating India 3-1 to pocket the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia also sealed a berth in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s in June, later this year.

With South Africa having already qualified, the tussle for the second berth was between India and Australia. If the visitors had won at Sydney, then the subsequent series involving Australia and host Sri Lanka, would have had a bearing on the second finalist.

But with a favourable verdict in the fifth Test at the SCG, Cummins and his men will get to defend the title they won in the 2021-23 cycle. Australia has 63.73 percentage points now and is well ahead of India’s 50. Meanwhile, India, after having qualified twice for the WTC final and suffering losses to New Zealand and Australia respectively in those summit clashes, will miss the bus.

Reflecting on the spot in the WTC final, Cummins said: “It’s huge for us, we talk about the World Test Championship a lot. It’s a trophy we are really proud to hold so we want to go back and defend it. To play well consistently across different conditions and against different teams, yeah it’s great, can’t wait to get over there.”