Australian pacer Pat Cummins is cautious about making his return to competitive cricket as he recovers from a back injury that has kept him out of action since April.
The right-arm fast bowler was the pick of the bowlers for Australia during their four-match Test series against South Africa, picking up a total of 22 wickets. But the 25-year-old complained of back soreness during the final Test in Johannesburg and subsequent scans confirmed that he was suffering from a bone edema in his vertebrae, ruling him out upcoming Indian Premier League season.
As someone who has seen his fair share of back troubles, Cummins believes rushing his recovery could prove to be counter-productive in the long run.
"There are no guarantees with injury, especially a stress fracture," he told cricket.com.au. "It's something you have to be really, really careful with.
"If you come back slowly and manage it really well, it's great. You never have a problem and sometimes the bone comes back even stronger than it was before.
"But if you don't treat it with respect, it can flare up and that's when it goes from being one month away from bowling to suddenly having to restart all over again.
"We'll find that balance between getting back and playing and being a little bit cautious.
"If I'm 100 percent fit, I'll definitely be going to Pakistan. There's no doubt about that.
"It is on track and it's healing really well, but hopefully it can get there quickly enough and I can start bowling in the next few weeks."
Since making his comeback to the Australian side after six years, Cummins has been the major strike bowler for his captain. Bowling first-change behind Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood, he has picked up 59 wickets in 13 matches in the last two years and was a key figure in his side’s 4-0 victory over arch-rivals England in the Ashes earlier this year.
At present, his availability for the Test series against Pakistan in UAE is doubtful. Alongside him, Starc and Hazelwood, both of whom also suffered injuries in South Africa, could be rested to keep them fit for the long home season against India, followed by Sri Lanka.
However, the 25-year-old has squashed any thought that the trio would be purposely held back as a precautionary measure for the summer.
"There's no way we'll be rested," Cummins said. "(We'll only miss out) if we're still trying to recover from our injuries.
"If any of us did miss it, it's great that there's so much cricket so soon after that and we'll be fresh and ready to go."
Also Watch
Vivo NEX Review: An Innovative Concept That Misses Perfection
GET APP
Live TV