Cummins rates Australia’s win over India as his greatest

Pat Cummins said on Monday he rates the fourth Test victory over India by 184 runs as “right at the top” of the greatest games he has played in for Australia.
A rollicking match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was won late on day five when the home side blasted out seven Indian wickets in the final session.
Cummins was named player of the match for his all-round deeds, including taking three key wickets on the final day as the tourists were skittled for 155.
He did it in front of a final-day crowd of nearly 75,000, pushing the combined attendance across five days to 373,691, easily the highest for any match played in Australia. The 66-Test veteran said he agreed with several team-mates that the Test was among the best they’d played in.
“I just felt everyone was talking, trying to work out where it sits. I reckon that it’s right at the top,” Cummins said.
“When you take it all into account, it’s probably the best Test match I’ve been involved in. I don’t know what the crowd was today, but it was huge,” he said.
“It felt like the match swung a lot as well. It never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that a win looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”
While Australia’s attack was devastating late on day five, Cummins believed victory was set up in the morning when key trio Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were dismissed cheaply.
“I reckon that first session today was close to perfection from a bowling point of view,” he said.
Australia can reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy if they win or draw the fifth and final Test starting in Sydney on Friday.
Cummins expected Mitchell Starc to be fit to play, even though the pace bowler was wincing throughout the second innings, favouring what is believed to be a rib complaint.
“We’ll reassess in a couple of days but he’s a warrior, he gets through,” Cummins said.
“He never even contemplates not being an option to bowl.
“So yeah, other than being in pain, he’s fully fit and available.”

Rohit concedes his form is ‘disturbing’ for beaten India
India captain Rohit Sharma admitted on Monday his batting form is “disturbing” after a double failure in the 184-run fourth Test loss to Australia in Melbourne.
Rohit also highlighted the need for team-mate Rishabh Pant to bat more sensibly after throwing his wicket away twice in the defeat, which leaves the tourists trailing 2-1 in the series.
Their batting will need to improve for the fifth and final Test starting in Sydney on Friday, which India must win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India’s highest run-scorers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground were their two youngest players, continuing a bountiful series for both.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 84 made up more than half of India’s second innings of 155, complementing his first innings knock of 82.
All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a fighting maiden century in the first innings.
Questions have arisen about the form and ongoing selection of Rohit, 37, and to a lesser degree, fellow-veteran Virat Kohli, 36.
Rohit struggled throughout the 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand in October-November and has failed to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings in Australia.
“A lot of the things I am trying to do are not falling in the place that I would want to,” Rohit said.
“Mentally, look, it is disturbing without a doubt if you’ve come here and you want to try to do successfully what you are supposed to.
“But as of now that is where it is and there are things that we as a team need to look at, and I personally need to look at as well.
“We will see what happens. There is still a game to go.”
Pant reached 28 and 30 in his two innings but was guilty of gifting his wicket with loose swipes which were caught in the outfield.
Rohit expected middle-order specialist Pant, renowned for an attack-first batting mentality, to fine-tune his approach in Sydney.
“It’s about him understanding and figuring out what is the right way to go about it,” Rohit said.
“In the past, he’s given us a lot of success doing what he does.
“But it’s about the certain situation of the game where if there is a risk percentage, do you want to take those risks? Do you want to let the opposition back into the game?”