After taking the cricket world by storm, Pat Cummins now has to bridge the generations | Cricket

After a hard-fought fifth Test win over India, which clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1, the post-series press conference began with Pat Cummins, wearing a weary grin under a pink border, with a juicy full toss of a question : As a captain, does the journalist feel that you have now completed cricket?

In some ways it was justified. After becoming the first Australian Test captain since Mark Taylor during the 1997 Ashes campaign to turn a 0-1 deficit into a five-Test series win, Cummins has now lifted the trophies in each of their bilateral Test series . They also won the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and will defend their World Test Championship club against South Africa in the final at Lords in June.

But the Sydney match was hardly a coronation. The Test depended on the batting contribution of Test debutant Beau Webster and the absence of injured Indian superstar Jasprit Bumrah in the final innings. Even without Bumrah, Steve Smith's dismissal at 3 for 58 seemed to give the series a final twist. Only modest but vital contributions from Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Webster secured a six-wicket victory.

It was easy to forget that India had defeated the home side in Perth by 295 runs and that over the next six weeks Bumrah had made the Australian batters look like ten-pins on a bowling alley. Still, the immediate prospects for Cummins are all beer and skittles. Alex Carey said the team deserved a drink, and a helpful Sam Konstas was still standing on the SCG lawn at 9pm on Sunday night with a bottle in hand. Another known for enjoying a beer in honor of an overflowing trophy cabinet said the T20 World Cup is the last to kick off for some of us.

That tournament will be held in India in thirteen months. Before then, there is the World Test Championship final in June, and a home Ashes series in November. So while winning back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade is worth celebrating, this was just episode one of this generation's Last Glance, ahead of the real final frontier in January 2027: a series of five Tests in India.

It is no coincidence that coach Andrew McDonald has extended his contract until 2027. In October he said that transition was coming for this all-conquering side. It is very difficult to change an established team that is performing really well. There are historical moments in the 1970s and 2007 when mass players left [the team] He said it was difficult to perform at the same level. We're not bound by the past, and I think if you get selections based on departing players, it makes the transition a lot smoother.

Australia got Nathan McSweeney's decision wrong, dropping 25-year-old David Warner's replacement after three Tests and bleeding Konstas. But the shine on the 19-year-old's bold MCG debut is already fading. It emphasizes the appeal of a known quantity, even if it is worn out or diminishing. Cummins told the press conference that the selectors resisted the temptation to panic after the defeat in Perth, saying it was more important to realize that we are still the No. 1 team in the world, that we are still a very good team , so stay strong.

Khawaja will be 40 when the 2027 Border-Gavaskar series releases. He always says age is just a number, Cummins said of his late-blooming opener, who hit 184 runs at 20.44 in the five Tests against India. Still, the captain says Khawaja's 78-Test career had no end date as long as he continues to score some runs.

Smith's two centuries amid 314 runs at 34.88 in the series helped ease calls for his transition, but concerns remain over the top six, including Marnus Labuschagne (232 runs at 25.77). Smith, 35, is not Australia's leading run-scorer (448 runs off 56) Travis Head, 31, is tipped to step in as captain again if Cummins misses the upcoming Sri Lanka tour due to the birth of his second child .

Similarly, most bowling strikes in Australia are now at an age where mortality begins. Scott Boland, 35, can't be the selector's wonder drug forever, especially considering the relatively young Josh Hazlewood, 33, (Mitchell Starc will be 35 in January and Nathan Lyon will be 38 by the time of the Ashes) was the fast bowler who broke down this summer.

That 2027 series in India will instead depend on Australia's slow bowlers, and whether Lyon remains 39 powerful by then. Todd Murphy, currently 24, and Matt Kuhnemann, 28, were included in the squad for the SCG Test ahead of a possible call-up to Sri Lanka. All three played in the ill-fated Delhi Test in 2023, where a sweep-induced batting collapse marked the most painful failure of this generation.

The constant is Cummins. The 31-year-old finished the series as Australia's leading wicket-taker (25 wickets @ 21.36), delivered crucial runs in the MCG win (49 and 41) and ended Rishabh Pants' fifth Test revival with a perfect delivery. He is the cornerstone of the side and is starting to blossom as a cricketer.

Two more years of success will make Cummins one of Australia's greatest leaders, if not already. When asked by the journalists, the captain just laughed. Cricket completed? Unfortunately I have to keep playing.