‘It is very unfair to judge him, he’s just off quarantine’ – Dinesh Karthik backs Pat Cummins to come good after dismal outing

Pat Cummins had a forgettable day in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ opening match against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). At the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Australian fast bowler leaked 49 runs in three overs and didn’t even complete his quota. The speedster was also a tad erratic as he gave away freebies in the form of four wides.

However, despite the poor show, Dinesh Karthik, the KKR skipper, hasn’t lost faith in Cummins, who’s ICC’s number-one ranked Test bowler. The captain reckons that Pat is a “champion bowler” and has backed him to come good later in the tournament. Karthik isn’t ready to judge Cummins, who’s coming off quarantine after Australia’s limited-overs series against England.

I trust Pat Cummins completely, says Karthik

“It is very unfair to judge him right now, he is just off quarantine and he got permission at 3:30-4:00 PM to play the match. We are happy to have him and I do not think this is the game where we need to judge him at all. He is a world champion bowler. I trust him completely and I am sure he will make a good comeback,” Karthik was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.

Cummins had his moments with the bat, though it came at a stage when KKR’s chances of winning the match diminished completely. He smashed 33 off 12 balls with four sixes, including a 27-run over off MI fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who got rid of Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan.

The Knights lost the match by 49 runs after failing to chase down 196. Cummins was their top-scorer with Karthik being the other batsman to get into the 30s. Barring Krunal Pandya, KKR lost wickets to every other MI bowler.

Russell, who played a strike-rate of over 200 in the last season, could only manage a run-a-ball 11 before Bumrah rattled his woodwork. Talking about changing the batting order, Karthik said that a lot would depend on the match situation.

“It all depends on the game and the score that we are chasing and what we are doing at any point of time,” he added.