Why is Pat Cummins taking a 2-month break ahead of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25?

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Australian Test team captain Pat Cummins has taken an eight-week break ahead of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy which will start from November 22. The 2023 World Cup-winning captain was rested from Australia's upcoming white-ball tour of Scotland and England.

The star pacer has been consistently playing cricket ever since recovering from a wrist fracture he suffered during the fifth and final Ashes 2023 match. He returned to action with an ODI series against India just ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023, and has played nonstop cricket ever since.

After leading Australia to victory at the ICC showpiece event, the 31-year-old played three Tests against Pakistan, two Tests against the West Indies, a T20 tour of New Zealand, two Test matches against New Zealand, SRH's all 16 matches in IPL 2024 , the T20 World Cup 2024 and the MLC 2024 where he played in the final for San Francisco Unicorns.

Pat Cummins has taken the much-needed 2-month break to come fresh to face India, and win his first Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He wishes to bowl for a longer duration and at a good pace through the course of the 5-Test series from November 22 to January first week.

“Everyone that comes back after a break is a little bit fresher, you never regret it,” Cummins was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.

“I’ve basically been bowling non-stop since the World Test Championship final, nearly 18 months ago. This gives me a good seven or eight weeks completely off bowling so the body can recover, then you start building up again for the summer.

“It means you can hopefully bowl for a little bit longer, maintaining pace is a bit easier, makes you less susceptible to injuries,” he added.

“I’m very sore today after a week of gym. Hamstrings, even ankles, kind of build up over months of bowling, but you can’t really nail it while you’re in the midst of the season,” the 31-year-old said.

“I’ll be doing lots of gym, some running, a lot of rehab exercise that you just can’t really fit in the middle of the season.”

Australia have failed to lay its hands on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy sine 2017. India have emerged victorious on last four occasions including the historic triumphs on Australian soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Captain Cummins wishes to break this impressive streak from India, who are aiming for a hat-trick of Test series win in Australia.

“It’s the trophy I haven’t won before… this is the one trophy a lot of our group haven’t ticked off,” Cummins said.

“We’ve achieved some amazing things over the last few years as a Test group. You kind of back yourself to win every series at home. I think you need to try and be up there in the upper echelon of teams.

“That’s what lies ahead of us this summer. They’re (India) a really good side. We play them quite a lot, we know them really well, but we feel like we’re really well placed also,” he added.