As he prepares for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA in June, Australian captain Pat Cummins has his sights set on taking part in the forthcoming IPL mini-auction and the 2024 season. Due to a hectic schedule that included the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the Ashes series in quick succession, he has resigned from the 2023 IPL season. He made a calculated decision to rejoin the IPL as part of his T20 World Cup preparations.
In the Super 12 stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup, Pat Cummins played in his most recent Twenty20 international match. With ODI and red-ball matches taking center stage in 2023, the shorter format suffered a setback. Ahead of Australia’s ODI World Cup semi-final match against South Africa, he stated that his involvement in the IPL provides a great chance for him to get back into the T20 format after a long absence.
In some ways, I feel like I haven’t played my best T20 cricket for a little while, and I feel like I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket. I’m ecstatic. I think I’ll enter the IPL auction the next year to attempt to get some matches before the World Cup and make a case to not only make the team but also regain my bowling form in T20 cricket,” Pat Cummins stated.
Australia, eyeing the World Cup, is concerned about Pat Cummins’ lack of T20 experience.
The right-arm pacer signed a deal with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a cool Rs 7.25 crore at the grand 2022 auction. Not to mention, he made history in 2019 by fetching an incredible Rs 15.25 crore, making him the most expensive foreign player of that time. However, Cummins and a number of other foreign players who declined to play in 2023 made the decision to break ways with the two-time IPL champions.
With Aaron Finch’s departure from the T20 format, the 30-year-old has become a strong candidate to take over as Australia’s captain. But the pacer was injured prior to the Twenty20 series, thus Mitchell Marsh took over as captain. In Pat Cummins’ absence, Marsh demonstrated tremendous leadership by leading the side to an emphatic 3-0 clean sweep against South Africa in their away series.
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