According to reports, the way the Nagpur pitch has been prepared has left the area outside the left-handed stump dry at both ends.
Cummins, whose team need only avoid a whitewashed 0-4 to make the Trial World Championship June finale, he admitted Australia’s left-handed batsmen may have to work very hard to score runs during the match, which starts on Thursday.
But the visiting captain also added that home advantage is part of the Test cricket challenge.
“It’s part of the challenge of playing away. Home teams want to win at home. In Australia, we’re lucky that we normally have pace and bounce. Home game advantage, I don’t think that’s a terrible thing. It’s another challenge and it makes touring here even more difficult when you know the conditions are tailor-made for them,” Cummins told reporters.
Cummins has not revealed his playing XI, but Australia could potentially pick five left-handed batsmen from their top seven, setting the scene for a potential Test for rotation.
Cummins has revealed that all-rounder Cameron Greenwho was recovering from a finger injury, would miss the opener, joining pacemen Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc on the sidelines.
Australia could bloody Todd Murphy with no limits along with another star player Nathan Lyonsand Peter Handscomb could beat Matthew Renshaw for the number six position to bring right-handed variety to their left-handed lineup.
“I think that’s a factor here. With so much traffic from right-handed bowling, sometimes there’s a little more out there for lefties,” said Cummins.
Cummins also explained how his hitters can outrun the spin.
“You have these different options: the sweeps, the reverse sweeps, a really neat method.”
(With input from Reuters)
