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No restrictions on Cummins in Ranchi

No holding back for Cummins as the paceman excites upon his long-awaited return to the Baggy Green

Australia never restrict the workloads of bowlers during a Test and injury-prone express paceman Pat Cummins will be no different in Ranchi.

Cummins has already exceeded expectations during the third Test between Australia and India, backing up his stunning 2011 debut with aplomb.

The 23-year-old, who suffered no shortage of serious setbacks in the five-and-a-half years that followed his man-of-the-match performance in Johannesburg, consistently troubled the hosts on days two and three.

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Cummins has four wickets, including the prized scalp of Virat Kohli. The right-armer will fancy his chances of grabbing the second five-for of his short Test career on Sunday, when India resume at 6-360.

The big question is how much he will bowl on Sunday and Monday.

Cummins strikes to continue Kohli's lean run

Cummins has been wrapped in cotton wool for so long in recent years, with Cricket Australia carefully monitoring the young gun's workloads and often restricting him to white-ball cricket.

Cummins, called into the squad and XI following Mitchell Starc's series-ending foot injury, has already delivered 25 overs including a pair of six-over spells.

"We didn't have any restrictions on him throughout this Test. It's a really important Test match for us," Australia's bowling coach David Saker said.

"If he ends up bowling more overs than first expected then so be it.

"It's tough cricket over here and because he's bowling so well the captain will want to keep going to him.

"I can't see him bowling too many overs tomorrow and maybe if we do have a bowl on the final day, I think it will be more a spinning wicket. He's done a great job so far."

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Saker added Cummins' recovery overnight would be no different to fellow quick Josh Hazlewood.

"It's pretty much the same, the recovery. The strength and conditioning (staff), the medial staff look after that. He'll be no different to any other," he said.

James Pattinson opted to sit out the tour of India, wanting to ensure he didn't attempt a Test comeback too soon. But the Victorian has demonstrated form and fitness at Shield level, grabbed a haul of 5-7 to ensure his side host the final.

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It means the prospect of Starc, Cummins, Pattinson and Hazlewood being available for the first Test of the 2017-18 Ashes is very much on the cards.

The four talented young pacemen have excited selectors for so long, but also frustrated them with a series of setbacks.

"It will be a bit of a headache for the selectors when it does happen," Saker said.

"You need a good crop of fast bowlers and we've got that at the moment."

Test Squads


India (for third and fourth Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.


Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade


Australia's schedule in India


Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune - Australia won by 333 runs.


Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru - India won by 75 runs.


Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi


Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala