Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik considers it extremely “unfair” that his main pacemaker, Pat Cummins, is criticized after a poor performance at IPL 2020.
Cummins, who only completed his mandatory quarantine two hours before the game, conceded 49 runs in three groundless overs. Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Mumbai Indians, was particularly severe on Australia’s pacemaker as Mumbai recorded 195 in his team’s 49-run victory.
“It’s very unfair to judge him (Cummins) at this time,” Karthik said Wednesday night. “He just came out of quarantine, he got permission to come and play the game between 3.30 and 4.00 pm. We are happy to have him and I don’t think this is a game where we should judge him.”
Karthik called Cummins a “bowling champion” who will come in handy during the season. “The simple fact that he is a world bowling champion, from what I’ve heard and seen, is one of the best in the world,” he said. “I trust him and I’m sure it will work out.”
Knight Riders’ best bowler was young Shivam Mavi, who returns to high-level cricket after a stress fracture. The Uttar Pradesh fast pitcher picked up the wickets of Rohit and Quinton de Kock, finishing 2-for-32 in his four overs. These were the cheapest figures among which they completed their full quota for the Knight Riders.
“At the beginning he (Mavi) was very good,” Karthik said. The poor guy got lost due to injury last year and is looking forward to this competition and is training well and that’s a good sign for KKR. “
Karthik also said the decision to have Andre Russell take the No. 6 spot was strategic. When Russell came in to hit in the 12th inning, Knight Riders needed 118 of 50 balls.
“I think it’s a strategy because it’s done universally, because it’s not easy for a pitcher to consistently shoot a left-hander and a right-hander,” he said. “Even if they get a little wrong on their line, it could go for runs. Because we have the advantage of doing that, sometimes we tend to do that.”
.
