3 times Pat Cummins frustrated the opposition with the bat in Tests

Australian skipper Pat Cummins proved once again that he is not only a world-class bowler but also a more-than-handy batter. He played an incredible knock of 44* against England in the first Test of Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston and took his team home against all odds.

Australia needed as many as 72 runs to win with just three wickets in hand when the Australian skipper walked in. He showed great presence of mind in picking his moments to attack the bowlers and also kept on rotating the strike. The calmness with which he approached the high-pressure chase showed that he is much better than just a bowler who can bat.

Pat Cummins has often played some vital knocks in the Australian lower order that has led to the tail wagging and the opposition being frustrated. Here are three such knocks:

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#3 44 vs England, Adelaide, 2017

Australian batters had gotten off to starts, but England kept on picking up wickets at regular intervals. Peter Handscomb did score a hundred, but at 311 for 7, the visitors would have fancied bowling out the Aussies as quickly as possible.

However, that wasn't to be as wicketkeeper Tim Paine and Pat Cummins added a crucial 87 runs for the seventh wicket. Cummins contributed 44 valuable runs as Australia declared at 442/8 and then controlled the game. The huge first innings score eventually helped the Aussies win the game by 120 runs.

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#2 50 vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2018

The fourth Test of Australia's tour of South Africa in 2018 was all about how South Africa managed to complete a 3-1 series win against the depleted visitors. With big names like David Warner and Steve Smith dropped for the final Test due to the Sandpapergate scandal, it was an opportunity for others to put up a fight and Pat Cummins certainly did.

Australia were in a hopeless situation at 96/6 after the Proteas had put up a mammoth 488 in their first innings. This is when Pat Cummins once again combined with Tim Paine, who was a stand-in captain, and added 99 runs for the seventh wicket.

Cummins got to his maiden Test fifty and while that couldn't change the fate of the result, the pacer showed that he had the ability to rise up to the challenge in times of adversity.

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#1 63 vs India, Melbourne, 2018

Arguably Pat Cummins' best performance with the bat came against India during the Boxing Day Test in 2018. The visitors were in complete control of the game in Melbourne and Australia were tottering while chasing the target of 399.

However, Cummins walked out to bat at 157/6 and seemed to be batting at a completely different level. He played some shots that even the best batters in the world would have been proud of. While Australia lost by 137 runs, Cummins' career-best score of 63 certainly gave him and the Aussies a lot of confidence in his batting ability.