“We call him IPL Pat” - KKR batter Aaron Finch on Cummins’ batting exploits
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter and Australia’s white-ball skipper Aaron Finch has revealed that Pat Cummins is referred to as "IPL Pat" by his Aussie teammates. He pointed out that the Australian Test captain has a much better batting record in the IPL than he does in his national team colors.
Finch and Cummins are teammates at the Kolkata franchise in IPL 2022. The former made his debut for his ninth team in the T20 competition when he turned out for KKR against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) last week.
In an interview on KKR’s official YouTube channel, Finch expressed his admiration for Cummins' batting exploits the batter. Referring to his record-equalling fastest IPL fifty (14 balls) against the Mumbai Indians (MI), Finch said:
“Absolutely, I was taken aback by it! We call him IPL Pat because he bats a lot better in IPL than he does for Australia. He’s played some great innings for KKR and he works hard on his batting so it was great to see him continue that aggressive mindset batting at number seven to come out and keep swinging hard from ball one and change the momentum of the game, it was brilliant.”
The 35-year-old opening batter also praised Indian southpaw Venkatesh Iyer, terming him a fantastic player. The Aussie limited-overs skipper opined that Iyer has many options because he is tall. Finch elaborated:
“He’s got a great reach, so teams struggle to tie him up because he’s got so many options around the ground and has the ability to play both sides of the wicket. He’s very intelligent with his batting. He can play the long innings and get the team home. So for a young guy, that’s such a good trait to have.”
Iyer has not had a great run in IPL 2022 so far. After seven matches, he has 109 runs to his name at an average of 18.17 and a strike rate of 102.83.
“Yeah, of course” - Aaron Finch admits being disappointed on not getting picked at IPL auction
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Before joining KKR as a replacement for Alex Hales, Finch went unsold at the IPL 2022 mega auction in February. He had put up his name in the ₹1.5 crore bracket. Asked if he was disappointed at not being picked, the experienced batter admitted:
“Yeah, of course. Yeah. But then to get the call from Baz (Head coach Brendon McCullum) to come and join KKR, I was very excited and jumped at the opportunity.”
The Australian white-ball captain was dismissed for seven on his KKR debut. However, he followed it up with a scintillating 58 off 28 balls against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Chasing 218, Kolkata fell short by seven runs. KKR are currently seventh in the standings with six points from seven outings.
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