Australia have their ‘legacy’ after winning Cricket World Cup: Pat Cummins

SYDNEY – Australia captain Pat Cummins said that his team had created their own legacy by winning a record-extending sixth one-day Cricket World Cup as some players returned home from India on Nov 22.

The Australians upset the hosts by six wickets in the final in Ahmedabad on Nov 19, only months after beating the south Asians to claim their maiden World Test Championship.

Cummins touched down in Sydney and was still glowing about their achievement.

“Every half an hour or so, you kind of remember that we just won the World Cup and get excited all over again,” he told reporters at the airport.

“So we’re still buzzing, it’s been an awesome couple of days and I think we’ll be smiling for a fair while.”

When asked about what winning the World Cup means for the players besides their happiness, he added: “I think they have created their own legacy.

“I mean, a World Cup, you only get one chance every four years and especially playing someone like India, it’s hard.

“So to be put up against the rest of the world and come away with a medal... it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Australia had to work their way back into the tournament after losing their opening matches against India and South Africa but were a juggernaut once they reached the semi-finals.

Cummins added that the squad had never doubted themselves, even after their rough start.

“You look back on now that we’ve won and you think: ‘Wow, everything came together’,” he said. “But the belief never left, even at the start. We knew we hadn’t played our best but kind of knew, once we clicked, we could take on anyone, and it proved to be the case.”

The team, however, have been denied a full-scale heroes’ welcome home by a packed cricket schedule that sees them face India again on Nov 23 at the start of a five-match Twenty20 series.

Seven members of the triumphant one-day international (ODI) squad will remain for the T20 series, including Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith and Travis Head, who scored a century in the final.

That meant a low-key return for the rest of the squad as they flew home in dribs and drabs, with skipper Cummins among those landing in Australia on Nov 22.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, who is now a high-profile pundit, last week called the T20 series “complete greed and overkill”.

He wrote on X: “Why can’t we allow players the chance to have a moment’s rest after a WC or whoever wins the chance to celebrate properly for a couple of weeks?” REUTERS, AFP