Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a tad concerned as they will have to do without Australians Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch at least for the first five matches of the IPL.
Finch, Australia’s white-ball captain, will be busy with the ongoing Pakistan tour, which ends with the one-off T20I in Lahore on April 5. Test captain Cummins has been rested from the limited-overs matches along with a few others, but Cricket Australia has allowed its contracted players to join the IPL not before April 6. Once in India, they have to be in quarantine for 72 hours.
“Not getting Finch and Cummins is a bit of a concern. You want your best players available, of course,” Knights mentor David Hussey acknowledged.
“But international cricket should be paramount and every cricketer should want to play international cricket for their countries. I think they (Finch and Cummins) will miss the first five games.
“Nonetheless, they’ll be cricket-ready and cricket-fit once they hit the ground running. Both are quality people,” Hussey, a former Australia limited-overs specialist, added.
This means pace spearhead Cummins and top-order batsman Finch would be available for selection from the Knight Riders’ April 15 clash versus Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai.
However, the “determination and stubborness” of captain Shreyas Iyer would be a massive force for the Knights in terms of dealing with the obstacles, Hussey emphasised.
“Shreyas’ development has really been rapid and very fast. He has got this determination and stubbornness of wanting to do well and be the best, which is a great attribute to have.
“He wants to lead from the front not just with his batting, but even with his fielding. He’s a complete cricketer and I believe he has got a good 15 years of international cricket to come,” Hussey said.
CSK unveils new jersey
Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday unveiled their new jersey for the 15th edition of the IPL. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in a video, unboxed the new-look jersey featuring a camouflage design on the shoulders and four stars atop the franchise’s logo that highlight the team’s four titles. CSK lifted the trophy in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. The defending champions open against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday but will be without Moeen Ali, who is yet to get his visa documents
