One of the most expensive purchases in the 2019 IPL auction, Pat Cummins received 15.25 crores for donning a Kolkata Knight Riders jersey (KKR). He was later released, while Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy were retained. After all, the Australian team was bought for 7.25 crores in the recently held IPL auction. This was a big deal for the Kolkata franchise, which spent almost double the price two years ago.
Now, with a new captain, KKR is back in the IPL. Shreyas Iyer has been named the new captain and Cummins has given his verdict on this new move as he knew Iyer back in Delhi Daredevils. “Shreyas, I played in Delhi (Dare Devils), we did really well. He seems like a very calm person and seems to be in form at the moment. I am so excited to be there, I have some close friends that I will play with, can’t wait.”
With the pace attack leading the way, Cummins is expected to play a bigger role. He can bat well in the lower middle order as well. The side has retained the nucleus and looks more organized than other franchises that have chosen fresh faces. Cummins supported this opinion, saying that he knows the staff very well “really excited. It was great that most of the squad was able to put together. So, most of the players and staff know it really, really well.”
Cummins also shared his view on the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodian of cricket laws, which imposed a complete ban on the use of saliva from October this year. “I don’t think so (permanent ban on saliva will affect the performance of swing bowlers),” he said.
“I don’t think it made as much of an impact as we thought it would. We can still use sweat so it’s not a huge deal.”
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