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A wicket 1,944 days in the making

Pat Cummins sends reminder of his enormous potential as Australia's bowlers toil hard in Ranchi

The delivery Pat Cummins produced to remove in-form India opener KL Rahul on day two in Ranchi is precisely the reason why the speedster rushed in to Australia's squad replace injured tearaway Mitchell Starc.

Steaming in for the fifth over of his second spell, Cummins fired down a rapid bouncer to Rahul who could do nothing but glove the searing ball through to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.

On a flat, benign surface dishing up a buffet of runs, the 23-year-old did exactly what he was chosen for and what only a few fast bowlers in the world can do - create something from nothing.

Cummins has that rare ability and it’s why he was flown over, and subsequently selected in the starting XI, when scans a week ago revealed Starc had fractured his foot and was out for the rest of the series.

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Allrounder Glenn Maxwell said after play that the wicket of Rahul was not just a confidence booster for Cummins in his comeback match after five-and-a-half years out of Test cricket but for the whole team too, who looked like going through final session of the day wicketless.

"That was pretty exciting," said Maxwell about Cummins's breakthrough. "It was a pretty quick and exciting spell, and one that everyone knows that Patty he has in him.

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"For him to come back and get that first wicket for us, it just gave us something to get out of that last session.

"I think it was starting to peter off a little bit and he just brought that little bit of life, almost a little bit like what Starcy was doing for us.

"I doubted whether I'd play Test cricket again"

"A little fast burst of pace and a couple of short balls and all of a sudden it can change the game."

Maxwell, who made a maiden Test century earlier in the day, openly admitted after play he tries to avoid the likes of Cummins and Starc in the practice nets such is their velocity and ferocity.

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It’s why the Victorian said he wasn’t surprised to see Cummins extract what little life there is in the Ranchi pitch to bowl the brute that removed Rahul.

"He's awkward. He's got a high release and able to hit a length where he reacts differently.

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"He's a guy who can get that variable bounce with the way he digs the ball into the wicket.

"Hopefully, he's extremely effective for us tomorrow.

"That extra pace is hard to adjust when it is doing something different height-wise off the wicket."