Australia pacer Pat Cummins currently occupies the numero-uno spot in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test bowler rankings. He is famous for hounding the opposition batters with field placements during his spell rather than the conventional mode of dismissals.
Cummins was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 auction but was later transferred to Delhi Capitals (DC) (formerly Delhi Daredevils) for the 2017 season only to ply his trade again for KKR in the IPL 2020 when he was purchased for INR 15.5 crores, making him the costliest player in the history of the T20 extravaganza at that time.
Being in the Kolkata- based franchise also gave a chance to the 28-year-old to meet KKR owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
However, Cummins stated that he was unaware of Shah Rukh when he first met him and was impressed by the latter’s charisma.
“The first time I ever met Shah Rukh Khan, I had no idea who he was. I think I was 18 or 19 years old and I never watched a Bollywood film. I heard that Shah Rukh was the owner (of KKR). It was quite naive (first encounter with Khan). I didn’t think of many. I was like this guy seems cool, he’s got a real aura and has big security guards,” Cummins told in an interview on the Anubhav Jain Show.
Cummins also lauded the ‘My Name is Khan’ actor for maintaining calm and never pressurizing his players.
“Last couple of seasons, he has not been able to get in the bubble but he helps on the zoom calls. In terms of the leader and owner of the team, you can’t ask for a better one because he only asks his players to enjoy the game and play with the freedom which is a rare thing,” the Westmead-born added.
Cummins bagged nine scalps from the seven games he played in IPL 2021 and also contributed with the bat by smashing 93 runs. KKR wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik recently confirmed that the Aussie speedster might not be available for the remaining season of the 14th edition of IPL once the cash-rich league resumes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
