Return to Tests: Pat Cummins has been called in as Mitchell Starc's replacement in India. Credit:Getty Images The doomsday scenario would be for the 23-year-old to break down and have his chances of playing in next summer's Ashes jeopardised – but the short-term prize of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against the odds is enticing. While the plan had been for Cummins to make his return in the Ashes, CA say he has sufficient overs under his belt and is ready to play in India. Selectors had left open the option of drafting in Cummins when they named their touring party in January. "It's unfortunate to lose Mitch out of the squad in India. In selecting Pat, we were looking for a strike bowling replacement option," Hohns said on Saturday. "Pat has impressed in his return to cricket this summer with consistent performances in his ODI, Twenty20 International and Big Bash matches.

Pat Cummins celebrates dismissing South Africa's Vernon Philander during his debut in 2011. Credit:AP "He has also had a very good Sheffield Shield return for New South Wales, after six years off, where he made a notable Shield best 4-57 in the first innings, before bettering those figures in the second innings with 4-47 in his man-of-the-match performance." Cummins, who can push the 150 km/h barrier, showed he can be a match-winner when he scythed through South Africa's star-studded batting line-up then hit the winning runs in his only Test appearance in 2011. There has never been a question of Cummins' talent but queries remain over the 23-year-old's durability. The Penrith product has played only five first-class games since his heroics in Johannesburg and this week's Shield game was his first in six years. There were similar concerns heading into his Test debut, after which he developed a stress fracture in his foot and missed the 2011-12 summer.

While his red-ball cricket has been limited, Cummins has shown newfound resilience this summer having not shown any sign of injury since his return in October. He has performed well for state, franchise and country in the limited-overs formats and coped well when asked to bowl more overs in grade cricket, the Futures League and last week in the Shield. That he has been playing since October would have weighed strongly in the minds of selectors when they chose him ahead of James Pattinson despite the Victorian having played more first-class matches in his comeback. With more spin-friendly wickets on the cards for the rest of the series, it's unlikely Cummins would have to shoulder a massive workload - but it's still hardly the ideal scenario for him to make his Test comeback. Cummins had been hoping to play more Shield cricket this season with the view of returning to the baggy green for next summer's Ashes series.

"It's pretty silly talking about Test matches before I've played at least a couple of Shield games and proved I can deserve a spot in the Test side," Cummins told Fairfax Media in December. "I still think it's a little far away." Cummins' solid form with the bat will also be important to an Australian line-up that has had to regularly call upon Starc's whirlwind hitting in the lower order to dig them out of trouble. India showed their fragility against high-class pace last week even though wickets over here are not conducive to the fast men. Loading "We know he's got pace, we know he's got the skill and however the Indians want to approach that is how they do," vice-captain David Warner said.

"But for us we know we have the firepower."