Pat Cummins boosted his reputation as a man for every job when a unique image of the Australian captain in Pakistan went viral.
Pat Cummins went hammer and pliers to give Australia the best chance of winning the second Test against Pakistan.
Looking down the barrel of defeat, the home side fought back on day four to reach the stumps at 2-192. He needs 314 more races to win or must survive all of day five to escape with what would be a heroic draw.
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Australia enjoyed early success on Tuesday after declaring by sacking Imam-ul-Haq for one and Azhar Ali for six – both LBW – but the bowlers worked without luck for the rest of the day.
Abdullah Shafique finished 71 while captain Babar Azam scored a brilliant century and will take over 102.
To fix issues on the crease where a bowler’s front foot lands, if it’s too uneven and causing them difficulty, ground staff will often pull out a large hammer-shaped object and smash that area of the court for l ‘flatten.
But Cummins took charge on day four, grabbing a full-size hammer when the Aussies called for help and leveling the surface himself at the crease line.
The golden boy, who can’t hurt the eyes of cricket fans around the world, has inspired comparisons to a Marvel superhero who prefers to carry a hammer with him wherever he goes as images of the moment in the 53rd quickly went viral.
Pakistan’s official Twitter account wrote, “So @patcummins30 is Thor?”
Commentator Simon Katich said: “There’s not much he can’t do, Pat Cummins. Handy on the Thor-type hammer as well.
Fellow commentator Adam Collins tweeted: “If you have a job to do call Pat Cummins.”
Cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan wrote, “The definition of a bowler captain. Pat Cummins taking the hammer and stomping his feet up for Cam Green’s sake.
Cummins hopes he can do some damage with the ball as well as the hammer when play resumes on Wednesday.
He was criticized in some quarters for playing too long in the first sets – dragging things into day three – then surprised fans by not enforcing the follow-up when Pakistan were routed for 148 in their first excavation.
Australia reached 2/97 in their second set before declaring in the morning session of day four with a 506 lead.