Pat Cummins points to India dropping both openers as proof that Starc is still firing

There have been calls for Cummins to take the new ball off Starc after he continued his scintillating run of form in the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka...

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has joined his captain Tim Paine in defending fellow fast bowler Mitchell Starc.

There have been calls for Cummins to take the new ball off Starc after he continued his scintillating run of form in the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka.

He finished took career-best innings figures of 6-23 in the second and finished the match with career-best figures of 10-62.

Starc, on the other hand, continued to struggle to maintain a consistently dangerous line and length, and some feel Cummins should be promoted from first-change to opening bowler – an idea which excites him.

^{Cummins took career-best match figures of 10-62}

"The harder the ball is (the better), especially when conditions feel like it's swinging around, I love to get the ball in my hand in those kinds of times," Cummins said.

"But overall, I think the new (ball) bowlers always do a great job. So, I feel like my role, coming in and hitting the deck, I do that pretty well and our openers do their job well as well.

"Starcy, when he's on, you just feel like he's going to rip through. You saw in the Indian series, both Indian (openers) got dropped because we started off really well with the new ball. 

"I think every training session he's working on things, trying to get better, and I'd love for him just to get a couple of wickets and it click, because I really don't think it's far away."