Cricket world forced to apologise to Pat Cummins after Aussie captain's divisive move pays off

Cricket fans and commentators are apologising to Pat Cummins after the Aussie captain played his hand perfectly in the fourth Test against India. Cummins copped plenty of criticism after choosing not to declare on the fourth evening at the MCG, and again when Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland continued batting on the fifth morning.

But the Aussie captain was proved a genius as Australia claimed an incredible win in the final session. Australia won an all-time classic Test, taking seven wickets in the final session to defeat India by 184 runs and go 2-1 up in the Border-Gavaskar series.

In front of a record overall attendance for a Test in Australia of 373,691, the hosts had to get past India's defiant star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (84 from 208), who was dramatically dismissed by Cummins. Lyon, who has struggled throughout the series, took two crucial wickets - including the match-sealer.

It proved Cummins' tactics completely correct, after the Aussie captain was wary about giving India too many overs to bat on what was a pretty decent pitch. While the majority were blasting him on Sunday evening, they were apologising just 24 hours later.

Pat Cummins copped plenty of criticism

Many fans thought the Aussie skipper dropped the ball by not declaring while in a commanding position on Sunday and sending India in to bat for a tricky period in the evening. Cummins, Lyon and Boland all made valuable runs to stretch Australia's lead to 333 going into the final day, after an extraordinary spell from Jasprit Bumrah threatened to rip the fourth Test away from the hosts.

Bumrah instigated an Aussie collapse of 4-11 in 21 balls after lunch, as Australia slumped from 2-80 to be reeling at 6-91, with India dreaming of a miracle win. But Cummins helped steady the ship with a crucial knock, before Lyon and Boland combined to swing the contest back in their favour.

Many feel like Cummins and the Aussies missed a trick by not declaring late on Sunday and sending the Indians in for a typically tricky spell of batting late in the evening, having already established a formidable lead. In fact, India had to defy history to win the Test, with the highest successful Test run chase at the ground coming nearly a century ago, when England made 7-332 to beat Australia in 1928.

Cummins may have been concerned about the workload on his bowlers after Mitchell Starc was treated for a back complaint on day three. Starc insisted on day four that he was fine and ready to go in the second innings though. Perhaps Cummins was worried about giving India too much time to chase down their total, but surely the skipper would back his bowlers to be able to get the job done. It seemed like a call aimed at avoiding defeat, rather than going for the win.

Sending India in to bat late on day four would have also been awkward on both of their openers, with under-fire Rohit Sharma facing questions around his future and Jaiswal having dropped three catches earlier in the day. Sharma was seen blowing up at Jaiswal for spilling the chance to remove Marnus Labuschagne (70) for 46, before he went on to add another 24 crucial runs.

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Cricket greats questioned why Pat Cummins did not declare

England captain Michael Vaughan and former Indian coach Ravi Shastri were among those left surprised that Cummins didn't declare and send India in for what would have been a tense last 30 minutes or so of the fourth day. “You’ve just got to look at psychology; Rohit Sharma (would) be going in first under a huge amount of pressure,” Vaughan said on Fox Cricket as Australia's tail wagged. “Then, you have got Jaiswal who has had a shocker in the field. I think both of those players would be quite happy to just get out of the MCG tonight and come back tomorrow.”

Shastri added: "They (India) will be happy they are not batting tonight. It’s a different ball game when you have been in the field all day to play those last 20 minutes or three or four overs. It is a different atmosphere altogether when you come back tomorrow.

"You are fresher and you know if you bat out the day you can either get the score or save the game. It also tells you that Australia are a little wary of India. They have chased down scores in the past, and they’ve got the batters who if they get in, can make all the difference.”

Aussie legend Matthew Hayden made a similar criticism of Cummins and Australia's decision not to declare during the rain-soaked Gabba Test when they had a big lead. Hayden said Cummins' men had been too 'conservative' in recent years, with plenty of fans hitting out on Sunday that the Aussies were once again being 'too defensive' and negative.