Australia news: A draw in Pakistan could be as good as a win says skipper

Australia skipper Pat Cummins says his team have come to Pakistan with the hope of winning the Test series.

Cummins suggested this might mean having to grind out a draw against the hosts.

To do anything of that sort Australia would need to be far more resilient against spin than they have been on recent trips to Asia.

When asked his goals and ambitions for Australia’s first Test tour to Pakistan since 1998, Cummins said: “The most obvious one is to win the series.

“But I think that might not necessarily look like two wins and one loss or whatever, it might be having to grind out some tough Test matches and hold out for a draw.

“A hard-fought, five-day grinding out for a draw in the context of a three-match series might be as good as a win.

“We don’t really know what we’re going to expect over there, but subcontinent Test matches can be played quickly or can be played slowly.”

Cummins doesn’t believe he will have any issues both leading the team in the field and getting through his overs on decks that could offer little for the quicks.

“I think I’ll be able to manage,” Cummins said.

“It’s something I’ll look at … they might be long innings, but it’s still 90 overs a day and I think that’s totally manageable.

“This Test summer, a lot of Test matches only went three days.

“My first probably 15 to 20 Test matches I played, it felt like every one went for five days so I really like getting into the grind and I think that’s going to be a challenge for our team, and one that hopefully we can embrace.

“That’s just a reality of Test cricket.

“For a lot of this group, we haven’t played a lot of cricket overseas so if we want to be number one in the world, we need to have a really good showing on these subcontinent tours, and that