Pat Cummins Picks Cheteshwar Pujara Over Virat Kohli as Toughest India Opponent
Pat Cummins praised Pujara’s patience and ability to absorb pressure, saying the former India No. 3 batter rarely gave bowlers a chance to dismiss him.
“India, I am going to say, Pujara. He is really hard to get out. It is just like death by a thousand paper cuts. Happy to face 100 dot balls if he wanted to. He isn’t going to give you a chance,” Cummins said on Prime Video Sport.
Pujara became one of Australia’s biggest challenges during India’s Test series victories in 2018-19 and 2020-21. He played an important role in the 2018-19 series, scoring 521 runs in seven innings at an average of 74.42, including three centuries, and was named Player of the Series.
Although Pujara enjoyed considerable success against Australia overall, Cummins had a strong individual record against the right-hander. The Australian pacer dismissed Pujara eight times in Test cricket.
Pat Cummins Names Alastair Cook, Saeed Ajmal and AB de Villiers
Pat Cummins also revealed his toughest opponents from six other major cricketing nations. He selected former England captain Alastair Cook, who finished his Test career with 12,472 runs at an average of 45.35, including 33 centuries in 161 matches.
For Pakistan, Cummins picked former off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. The Australian recalled being completely deceived by Ajmal during one of their encounters and described the Pakistan spinner as a unique challenge.
“Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal. It was like the last ball of the over; I walked in, Saeed Ajmal just goes and I went, what? Clean bowled. I have never seen anything like that,” Cummins said.
Cummins chose former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammates AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle as his toughest opponents from South Africa and the West Indies, respectively. De Villiers finished with more than 20,000 international runs, while Gayle scored 19,593 runs and hit 42 international centuries.
Cummins completed his list with former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and Sri Lankan all-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan. McCullum scored 14,676 international runs across formats, while Dilshan finished his career with 17,671 runs and 39 centuries.
Pat Cummins has seriously rubbed shoulders with cricketing greatness in his career 🤩🏏#PatCummins #ChrisGayle #ABDeVilliers #Cricket #UniverseBoss pic.twitter.com/11COv9WIFa
— Prime Video Sport AUNZ (@pvsportaunz) September 18, 2026
Pat Cummins Set to Return for South Africa Tour
Pat Cummins is currently missing Australia’s three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe as part of a planned workload-management break. Mitchell Marsh is leading the Australian side, while Cummins has stayed at home to focus on his fitness ahead of the South Africa tour.
The Australian captain is expected to rejoin the squad in South Africa next week and will take back the leadership role for the white-ball matches against the Proteas. However, Cummins does not plan to play every limited-overs fixture during the tour.
He is expected to feature in only one to three of the six scheduled white-ball matches before the three-match Test series against South Africa begins on October 9, 2026.
Cummins will use those limited-overs appearances to build his bowling workload and match fitness before the red-ball series. The Tests remain the main priority as Australia prepare for a demanding three-match campaign against the Proteas.
