Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik jumped to the defence of Pat Cummins after their loss to Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 encounter on Wednesday In Abu Dhabi, saying it was a one-off day for their most expensive fast bowler.
All eyes were on Pat Cummins in the lead up to IPL 2020, considering he was the costliest buy at the auction as Kolkata Knight Riders had to spend Rs 15.5 crore to fend off a bidding war and secure the Australian fast bowler. Cummins was put under pressure right from his first over as Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma hit the big pacer for two huge sixes at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
The Mumbai Indians put in a solid shift after losing their opener against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with skipper Rohit Sharma leading from the front. Rohit top-scored with an 80-run knock while Suryakumar Yadav contributed 47 runs to help the team 195 runs on the board.
Chasing the target, KKR got off to a dismal start as openers Shubman Gill (7) and Sunil Narine (9) were both dismissed in single-digit figures. Dinesh Karthik (30) and Nitish Rana (24) did put their best foot forward but the asking rate kept accelerating.
Even T20 specialists like Eoin Morgan (16) and Andre Russell (11) failed to shine as they both became the victims of Jasprit Bumrah in a single over.
“I think it’s unfair to judge him right now. He is just off quarantine. Literally, it was 3:30, 4 is when he got permission to come and play the match itself. We are just happy to have him. I don’t think this is a game where we need to judge him at all. He is a world champion bowler. He is one of the best going around in the world. I trust him and I am sure he will come good,” Karthik said.
Couple of the guys – Cummins and Morgan – just finished their quarantine today, it is hard – playing in the heat and getting used to the conditions,” said the veteran wicket-keeper batsman.
