Aussie pace trio on track to be our greatest ever

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are on their way to becoming Australia's greatest-ever fast-bowling trio.

Australia's comprehensive victory in the first Vodafone Test against India in Adelaide was built on the dazzling performances of the quicks, who took 17 of the 19 Indian wickets to fall in the eight-wicket win inside three days (with Mohammad Shami retiring hurt).

Starc overtook Graeme McKenzie as his country's seventh-most prolific paceman in terms of Test wickets in Adelaide and sits two wickets short of 250.

Hazlewood became the 13th Australian quick to reach 200 Test wickets on the whirlwind third day as he destroyed India with a haul of 5-8 in the second innings.

And the world's No.1 ranked Test bowler Cummins took seven wickets for only 69 runs to sit neatly on 150 Test wickets.

The trio all have put up extremely impressive numbers, but it's Cummins – now with 31 Tests to his name – whose record stands out.

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Australian quicks after 31 Tests

Pat Cummins 150 wickets | Ave 21.27 | SR 46.33

Glenn McGrath W: 137 | Ave 23.89 | SR 53.86

Dennis Lillee W: 160 | Ave 24.08 | SR 52.50

Josh Hazlewood W: 118 | Ave 25.75 | SR 55.57

Mitch Starc W: 129 | Ave 27.67 | SR 48.30

Brett Lee W: 119 | Ave 29.53 | SR 50.76

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All three of the current pacemen hold spots in the top seven of the ICC's Test bowling rankings, with Cummins sitting pretty at the top of the list and Hazlewood (fifth) and Starc (seventh) not far behind.

More importantly for Australia, the trio work together effectively as a bowling unit alongside spinner Nathan Lyon.

And, in a frightening sign for other Test teams, James Pattinson (81 wickets at 26.33) is waiting on the sidelines and as recently as last year's first Ashes Test was picked ahead of both Starc and Hazlewood.

"I love knowing when I finish my spell I have someone like a James Pattinson or Starcy who can come in and go flat out, or Josh Hazlewood at the other end," Cummins said before the first Test.

"Knowing there's no weaknesses or let up is a great thing to be involved with. (It's) super enjoyable, satisfying. If they take wickets and I don't I'm just as happy for them. It's great at the moment."

Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc have now played in the same Test XI on 16 occasions, combining for 215 wickets in those matches.

As far as pace trios in Test cricket go, that stacks up against any combination in history.

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Combined totals for Test pace trios
(ranked by wickets taken)

Wagner, Boult, Southee (NZ)
Matches: 35 | Wickets: 478 | Ave: 25.12 | SR 50.68

Ambrose, Bishop, Walsh (WI)
M: 37 | Wickets: 412 | Ave: 23.91 | SR: 54.24

Flintoff, Hoggard, Harmison (ENG)
M: 33 | Wickets: 383 | Ave: 29.38 | SR: 53.95

Morkel, Philander, Steyn (SA)
M: 31 | Wickets: 368 | Ave: 23.50 | SR: 48.87

Holding, Garner, Marshall (WI)
M: 26 | Wickets: 331 | Ave: 22.52 | SR: 50.16

Anderson, Broad, Finn (ENG)
M: 22 | Wickets: 265 | Ave: 25.07 | SR: 49.89

Anderson, Broad, Woakes (ENG)
M: 24 | Wickets: 262 | Ave: 25.58 | SR: 55.00

McGrath, Lee, Gillespie (AUS)
M: 22 | Wickets: 243 | Ave: 28.47 | SR: 55.51

Ntini, Pollock, Nel (SA)
M: 19 | Wickets: 228 | Ave: 28.76 | SR: 58.07

Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood (AUS)
M: 16 | Wickets: 215 | Ave: 23.87 | SR: 49.45

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In terms of total wickets taken, the New Zealand grouping of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner sit at the top of the list, having surpassed the legendary Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Courtney Walsh as the most prolific pace threesome.

However, the Australia's star combination boasts a better combined average and strike rate than the top-placed Kiwis.

If things continue along the current trend this summer, the Aussies could overtake Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, who took 243 wickets in 22 Tests together.

The question now is just how far the trio could go up that list with the likes of Pattinson, Michael Neser and Sean Abbott nipping at their heels.

But it is not unusual for fast bowlers to play well into their mid-30s.Starc is 30, Hazlewood will turn 30 in January and Cummins is still only 27.

And captain Tim Paine believes the emergence of Cameron Green could be a factor in how long those bowlers can play Test cricket for given the allrounder's bowling capabilities.

"Obviously if Greeny can continue to go on the path he is, having him in our side allows us to have Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood around the Australian Test team even longer in terms of their careers," Paine said before the first Test.

"He's going to be a huge asset to us in that sense."

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT