'Countless texts on my Instagram' - Ben Cutting on RCB fan messages for anti-climax in 2016 IPL Final [Exclusive]

In a recent interaction with CricTracker, Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting spoke on a multitude of topics surrounding his time playing the Indian Premier League. He particularly spoke on his iconic performance in the IPL 2016 final while representing Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the anecdotes surrounding that memorable night. Cutting also shed light on the fiery middle-finger altercation with Sohail Tanvir in PSL 2022.

The Brisbane-born played a total of 11 matches for Australia (four ODIs and seven T20Is). Despite his limited appearances for Australia, the Queensland cricketer is considered as a veteran of the 20-over format, having played in leagues around the world. He has played 212 T20s up until now, scoring 2921 runs at a strike rate of 145.25 and taking 137 wickets at an economy rate of 9.03, making him a genuine performer across departments.

Excerpts

Your IPL 2016 final knock of 39 off 15 with two wickets remains legendary—does that night in Bengaluru still give you goosebumps?

A hundred percent. It's nine coming on ten years ago now, but it still feels like yesterday. I remember vividly leaving the hotel that night, travelling to the ground in a team bus. RCB supporters all around the ground, all in the streets everywhere, right up through the game, and obviously winning the final at the end.

You called that IPL final the highlight of your career, even more than representing Australia. Why does that one match stay above everything else?

For me the confidence that being able to perform on the world stage now playing for Australia is obviously the pinnacle for us playing for your country, but the next level is, playing in the Indian Premier League, but also performing at that level I think after a number of years of sort of being in the team out of the team usually backups rather all-rounders to get my opportunity and play as well as I did and feel comfortable out there. That was probably the biggest thing for me, that nothing that I could mix with the best at that level.

You get around 150 fan messages a day asking you to come back and play against RCB—what’s running through your mind when you read those?

What there's usually that many funnily enough even to this day that I just can't see them all and they all go into my other inbox that Instagram has so I generally don't see a lot of them unless I go looking, but it's always a nice feeling when it opens up from time to time and there are countless messages in there from the subcontinent.

What has happened when you engaged in a heated 'middle finger' exchange during a PSL game?

Sohail Tanvir, we played against each other in a CPL match in 2018 in the Caribbean, where I hit him for six and then he bowled a perfect yorker, a beautiful ball, and he blew my stumps out of the ground the next delivery and as I was walking off, he then gave me the finger. Yeah, I don't forget. I'm a bit of an elephant. So when it came time to return serve. He's such a good bowler such a world-class bowler that it's rare for him to have an off day. So that when I could get a hold of him the PSL, I made sure I let him know about it, and I didn't forget what he did to me in 2018.

You’ve played T20 leagues all over the world, which franchise felt most like home to you?

Look all the franchises are different for me. The IPL ones are probably the most family-friendly. Particularly my time at the Mumbai Indians, where I spent two years. That was probably the most enjoyable time for me.

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