AUS vs IND: Virat Kohli's absence a new opportunity for someone else, feels Pat Cummins

Australian vice-captain Pat Cummins has said that Virat Kohli’s absence after the first Test match in Adelaide “make a bit of difference” but he was “unsure” if it could be the deciding factor in the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Cummins further said that India always finds some incredible batsman, outside the team, waiting for his opportunity.

Kohli is set to miss the last three Tests of the four-match series after being granted paternity leave by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Kohli’s wife and Bollywood star Anushka Sharma are expecting their first child in early January.

Cummins, echoing his team-mate Nathan Lyon’s views, said that the players haven’t spoken about Kohli’s absence too much while adding he is not sure that it will be a deciding factor in the series.

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"To be honest, as a captain, obviously he’ll be missed but the Indian cricket side always finds some incredible batsman, who outside the team, just waiting for an opportunity, so maybe that new opportunity will be the beginning of someone else’s career," he said in a media interaction on Monday, 16 November.

"It might make a bit of a difference. I am not sure it’s gonna be a deciding factor in the series but to be honest, us players haven’t spoken too much about it," Cummins said in a media interaction on Monday.

In the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India created history as they defeated them 2-1, for the first time on their home soil. In the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, India dominated all three departments of the game to successfully clinch the series Down Under.

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"We have got a lot to prove. India played really well here a couple of years ago. We as an Aussie cricket team, and as long as I have grown up watching them play, pride ourselves on winning at home, especially Test matches. So to lose that one, I feel like we have to make amends this summer," said Cummins.

"It’s gonna be a great series. Both teams I think are at the top of the Test Championship table at the moment. It’s going to be a high-quality series," he said.