"Had no idea"- Pat Cummins claims he was unaware of claiming a World Cup hat-trick

Star Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins secured a hat-trick during the Super 8 Group 1 match against Bangladesh in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. However, Pat Cummins admitted that he was unaware of the massive T20 World Cup achievement until it came on the screen during the match.

Pat Cummins was instrumental in Australia's 28-run (via DLS method) victory in their opening Super Eights fixture at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Friday, June 21 (India time). Cummins was named "Player of the Match" for his impressive bowling performance to help Australia earn two points in the Super 8s.

Cummins became the second Australian bowler to take a hat-trick in the history of the T20 World Cup. Legendary fast bowler Brett Lee achieved a hat-trick during a match against Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup. Overall, Cummins became the seventh bowler to achieve this landmark in a T20 World Cup match.

The 31-year-old pacer dismissed Mahmudullah and Mehedi Hasan from the final two deliveries of his third over. Cummins picked up the wicket of Towhid Hridoy on the first delivery of the 20th over in Bangladesh's innings. He became the fourth Australian bowler to secure a hat-trick in T20 internationals.

I Totally Forgot About It - Pat Cummins

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Pat Cummins revealed that he learned about his hat-trick achievement from the stadium screen. The 31-year-old expressed satisfaction at dismissing Hridoy, who was well-set and restricting Bangladesh to 140 runs.

"I had no idea, then saw when it came up on the screen. Set batter in, playing the innings, you never know. I totally forgot about it. So that was a big wicket (on Hridoy's wicket) and happy to have restricted them," Cummins said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ICC (@icc)

Ashton Agar And Nathan Ellis On The Bench - Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins emphasized the team's depth, with Nathan Ellis and Ashton Agar waiting on the bench. Both Agar and Ellis also secured hat-tricks for Australia in T20I cricket. Cummins stressed the importance of maintaining momentum heading into the remaining Super 8 matches.

"Few (hat-tricks) in juniors, never for Australia. Agar and Ellis, on the bench, have hat-tricks, joined their club. It's pretty awesome to tick that off. Good club to be part of. Fairly polished performance, the goal was to win and we did well with the run rate, we'll need to continue with the momentum going ahead in the Super 8s," Cummins added. 

Australia restricted Bangladesh to 140-8 in their 20 overs. Travis Head and David Warner provided a solid start in Australia's chase. Australia scored 100 runs for the loss of two wickets in 11.2 overs before rain halted play. According to DLS calculations, Australia was 28 runs ahead of the par score of 72-2.

Australia moved to the top of Group 1 ahead of India on net run-rate. The Mitchell Marsh-led team is set to face Afghanistan at the Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent, on Saturday, June 22 (local time).

Also read: Watch- Suryakumar Yadav shows a journalist his place after the latter calls him by Mohammed Siraj's name