IPL 2020: Aakash Chopra Lavishes Praise On Pat Cummins For Living Up To The Billing

Kolkata Knight Riders’ seamer Pat Cummins seemingly was under pressure before IPL 2020 as the franchise shelled out INR 15.5 crores. The pressure mounted on Pat Cummins when in the first match he not only went wicketless but also conceded 49 runs in three overs. However, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra remarked that the 26-year old every amount dished out on him against the Rajasthan Royals.

Pat Cummins looked in the best nick on Sunday against Rajasthan Royals as he grabbed four wickets for only 34 runs in four overs. The Australian speedster went for 19 runs in his first five deliveries; however, ripped through the top-order of the Royals, denting their run-chase of 192. He removed Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, and Riyan Parag.

Aakash Chopra underlined that Pat Cummins made a tremendous comeback by dismissing Robin Uthappa in the sixth delivery after conceding 19 off the first five. Following that he got Ben Stokes’ scalp as Shivam Mavi joined the party to bounce out Sanju Samson. The 43-year old referred to Cummins as the game-changer and stated that the only way to stop the Royals was to pick up wickets.

“Pat Cummins gave 19 runs off the first 5 balls but gets Robbie out of the 6th ball. Then he gets Ben Stokes, with an outstanding catch from Dinesh Karthik, and another wicket in his next over. Mavi also dismisses Sanju Samson from the other end and game over. I am going with Pat Cummins. The only way to stop Rajasthan Royals was to take wickets. And if you take three wickets in the first two overs, what else do you want,” Aakash said in his Youtube channel.

“Pat Cummins broke the back of Rajasthan’s batting line-up” : Aakash Chopra

The former Indian opener highlighted that Pat Cummins broke the back of the Royals’ bowling line-up by dismissing all the big fish. It was merely a formality after that and the New South Wales cricketer went on to repay the faith the Knight Riders put on him and justified the price tag.

“And he took 4 wickets in all and broke the backbone of the RR batting lineup. And they were big wickets, he got Ben Stokes, Robbie and Steve Smith. It was just a matter of formality after that. This was the match where Pat Cummins repaid KKR for the huge money they spent on him,” he added.

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