Pat Cummins has said that his team would never adopt tactics such as manipulating results at the T20 World Cup 2024.
The current holders of the 50-over World Cup, Australia, have already qualified for the Super 8 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, following an unbeaten run in their three group stage games.
Group B, from which they have already qualified, includes the likes of arch-rivals England, Scotland, Namibia, and Oman. England are currently placed third in the group with 3 points, behind Scotland who have 5 points.
BET NOW: Exclusive sign-up offers and bonuses when you bet on T20 World Cup action
Why have Australia been accused of trying to manipulate results at T20 World Cup 2024?
To understand why the fans or media would make such a big accusation against the world champions, Australia, of trying to manipulate results, we will have to look at the current Group B points table:
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | NR/Tie | Points | NRR |
| Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3.580 |
| Scotland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2.164 |
| England | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3.081 |
| Namibia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2.098 |
| Oman | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3.062 |
Ahead of England's record run-chase in 3.1 overs against Oman, they were struggling with a solitary point and a poor NRR. To have any chance of qualifying for the Super 8, they needed to win their upcoming games and at the same time, surpass Scotland with respect to NRR.
It was at this time that Australia fast bowler, Josh Hazlewood made a comment suggesting that it would be in his team and everyone's "best interest" if they could prevent England from qualifying for the next phase.
What did Josh Hazlewood say about Australia preventing England from qualifying for Super 8?
Following Australia's dominating win over Namibia in the group stage game, which secured their spot in the Super 8, Josh Hazlewood talked about arch-rivals England's chances, saying:
"In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again. They're probably one of the top few teams on their day that we've had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament that's in our best interest as well as probably everyone else," he said.
"It'll be interesting to see. We've never really been in this position before as a team, I don't think, so whether we have discussions or not, we'll just try and play it again the way we did tonight [against Namibia]," he added.
Did Pat Cummins quash suggestions about manipulating results against Scotland, England?
However, ODI World Cup-winning captain Cummins emphasized that Australia would never attempt such a strategy, saying that it would be against the 'spirit of cricket.'
"I think when you go out and play you are trying your best every time and if you are not, that's probably against the spirit of cricket."
"I was speaking to Joshy, who had a bit of a joke about it the other day, and think it got taken a little bit out of context. We'll go there and just try and play Scotland who have had a really good tournament so far and will be tough. Net run rate is something you kind of discuss as one of the quirks of the set-up but in terms of does it change the way we play, absolutely not," Cummins said.
If by any shocking turn of events, Scotland end up causing a big upset by beating Australia, resulting in England's exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, such accusations of 'manipulation' are bound to rise up again, especially from the English media in the UK.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Learn more >