Ashes 2021-22: Pat Cummins accomplishes plethora of landmarks with five-fer on Test captaincy debut

Pat Cummins couldn’t have made a better start to his captaincy career as the speedster breathed fire on Day 1 of Ashes 2021-22 opener and scalped a five-fer. His stellar show with the ball meant England got skittled out for a paltry 147 while batting first at the Gabba in Brisbane. Besides putting the Aussies on command, Cummins also entered the record books with his heroics on captaincy debut.

The pacer eventually ended with figures of 5/38 in 13.1 overs as Australia made a dream start to their campaign. Meanwhile, Cummins became the first bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test captaincy debut since Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan in 2019. The leggie had achieved the landmark against Bangladesh in Chattogram, where he took five-fers across both innings of the Test.

Overall, Cummins became the 10th bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Ashes as captain. India’s Anil Kumble, West Indies’ Courtney Walsh, New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori are some other prominent names to have taken a five-fer in Tests while leading the team. Cummins’ counterpart in this game, Joe Root was previous to get the feat as he recorded figures of 5/8 against India earlier this year.

Meanwhile, let’s look at some other feats achieved by Pat Cummins with his stellar show in Ashes Opener:

1. Pat Cummins became the first Australian to take a five-wicket haul in his maiden Test as captain since George Giffen in 1895.

2. He’s the first Australian captain to take a five-wicket haul since Michael Clarke in 2012.

3. The pacer is first skipper to take a five-for in an Ashes Test since Australian skipper Bob Willis in 1984.

4. Cummins became the first Australian to take five wickets in the first innings as captain. Overall, he’s the 11th to get the feat.

5. Cummins became the 10th bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Ashes as captain, fifth Australian in the list.

6. The right-arm speedster became the first bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test captaincy debut since Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Aussies are comfortably command at the moment and would like to dominate England on the second day as well. Notably, rain and bad light meant the Aussies couldn’t come out to bat on the opening day. Hence, it would be interesting to see if the visitors can make a comeback with the ball or not.