Cummins was left out of Australia’s final 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup, starting February 7, due to a lingering back complaint. A minor setback during his recovery ultimately meant he ran out of time to push for selection.
“We’ll just be guided by my back. We’ll have another scan in a few weeks, and if it’s good, then we’ll have a slow build-up. T20s are a little bit easier to get up for, that’s why I was so close to getting up for this World Cup,” the Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper told Australian AP.
“It was really unfortunate. I feel pretty good, just a minor setback and just ran out of time really. I’ll rest up for a few weeks and go from there. We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up.
“Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan. They thought it probably needs another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight,” he added.
Ensuring full fitness for the IPL is also seen as a crucial step in preparing for a packed ICC World Test Championship schedule in the second half of the year. Australia face a packed calendar, with a two-Test home series against Bangladesh and a three-Test tour of South Africa before the end of October. That is followed by four Tests against New Zealand and a five-match series against India before the current WTC cycle concludes.
“We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that’s coming up. We’ll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won’t have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches,” Cummins said.
“Whereas, if you’re not careful with it now and it flares up, you’re chasing your tail a bit.”
While Cummins works towards an IPL return, Australia head into the T20 World Cup without their captain, despite recent injury concerns and a T20I series loss to Pakistan. They remain among the favourites and are placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman and co-hosts Sri Lanka.
Cummins believes the Pakistan series does not accurately reflect the quality within the Australian squad and expects a strong showing in Indian and Sri Lankan conditions.
“It wasn’t our greatest few games (in Pakistan), but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash, and a couple of guys are coming back from injury for the World Cup,” Cummins said.
“Morale is good. Chatting to a few of the boys from afar … they know how big it is, they’re desperate to get started and get into it,” he added.