Pat Cummins had an eventful series against visitors India Down Under. The Australian pacer was in top form during the four-match Test series as he picked up the most number of wickets (21) during the contest which was won by the visitors India by a margin of 2-1.
Shubman Gill, the opener also made his debut for India in the series and looked like an assured batsman at the top of the batting lineup. He played pacers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood with ease and poise as he announced his arrival on the world stage.
Pat Cummins: Shubman Gill Wants To Take The Game On And Is Really Relaxed
Shubman Gill narrowly missed out on a century in the 4th Brisbane Test but garnered praise from several former and current cricketers for his batting exploits. Kolkata Knight Riders pace spearhead Pat Cummins is also a big fan of Shubman Gill and said he likes the way the young India opening batsman stays relaxed while taking the game on.
“He’s good, he’s young. He wants to take the game on and is really relaxed,” the star Aussie pacer said in an Instagram live by KKR in the build-up to their opening IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Sunday.
“He doesn’t take cricket or life too seriously. So it’s good fun to be with him,” the world’s number one Test pacer added, hailing the India youngster as the duo would be seen playing together, months after their thrilling duel in the Test series Down Under.
The 21-year-old was one of the chief architects of India’s epic Test series win Down Under, in what was his debut outing. He managed 259 runs averaging 51.8 in 3 Tests after debuting in the Melbourne Test.
Pat Cummins: Shubman Gill Had A Great Start To His Test Career
Shubman Gill hit a counter-attacking 91 in the second innings of the fourth and final Test in Brisbane, something that set up India’s epic chase of 328 at the Gabba en route to their 2-1 series triumph.
“I get along really well with Shubman. It was a great debut for him last summer in Australia. We had some good contests out in the field. I really feel happy for him, he had a great start to his Test career,” Pat Cummins said.
Amid the COVID-19 scare, IPL will follow a caravan format and for the first time, the franchises will be deprived of home advantage as KKR too would miss playing at the iconic Eden Gardens.
“Just looking forward to playing for you guys this season. I know, unfortunately, we’re not going to get up to Kolkata and see you in person but yeah give us all the love on social media.
“We see it all and we absolutely love it, and we’ll be trying our best for you, so stick with us and yeah hopefully see you all soon,” Pat Cummins maintained in a message to the fans.
Shubman Gill scored 440 runs in 14 games while Pat Cummins picked 12 scalps along with scoring 146 runs in 14 games in IPL 2020. The Australian pacer was the most expensive buy in the 2020 IPL Auction after being bagged by KKR for a whopping 15.50 crores.
Shubman Gill was acquired by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018 and turned in useful contributions for them in his debut season and next 2 seasons- 2019 and 2020 averaging in excess of 30 each time. He made his ODI debut for India in New Zealand in 2019, made his Test debut in Australia in 2020, and is touted for big things in the future.
Kolkata Knight Riders Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine/ Shakib Al Hasan, Shivam Mavi/Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Pat Cummins/ Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy/ Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna.