Ace Australia pacer Pat Cummins will not feature in the third and the final T20I against Pakistan scheduled to be held in Perth. The development has been confirmed by team’s head coach Justin Langer who stated that the right-arm bowler will be rested in order to prepare for the upcoming the first Test against the visitors.
“We've got so much cricket on, he (Cummins) plays a lot of it so when you get a little opportunity rather than taking the long flight to Perth he's going to stay here, recover and get prepared for the Test series,” Cricket.com.au quoted Langer as saying.
According to Australian media, Cummins is likely to play in New South Wales' Sheffield Shield game against Western Australia at the SCG. The match will also include other national team players like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith and David Warner.
This outing is going to be his only red-ball preparation before the Test squad assembles for a camp in Brisbane ahead of the Test series against Pakistan.
Cummins featured in both the previous T20Is against Pakistan. The first match was abandoned due to rain during Australia's chase and the hosts secured a seven-wicket win in the second T20I.
Cummins, who holds the number one spot in ICC Test bowling rankings, has played 31 matches across all formats for Australia this year.
The third T20I will be played on November 8 while the two-match Test series will commence from November 21.