IPL 2021: KKR pacer Pat Cummins to arrive in India on April 2

In a big relief for the Kolkata franchise, their numero uno pacer will be arriving just in time for the start of the 14th edition of the cash-rich league.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Pat Cummins will be arriving in India on April 2 for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. With the team set to play their first game on April 11, he will be available for training from April 9.

Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Pat Cummins (Twitter/IPL)

Getting people out of Australia has been tough in recent times due to the Covid-19 situation, and this was also confirmed by Royal Challengers Bangalore's Director of Cricket, Mike Hesson. But in a big relief for the Kolkata franchise, their numero uno pacer will be arriving just in time for the start of the 14th edition of the cash-rich league.

Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments confirmed that the Australia pacer will be landing in the country late in the evening on April 2.

"Flight details are still awaited, but he is set to arrive in India late in the evening on April 2. He will then be in quarantine for seven days," the source said.

As per BCCI's SOPs for IPL 2021, all players (except for those from the India-England series), support staff, and management entering the bubble need to undergo a seven-day quarantine in their hotel rooms. Every individual will be tested multiple times during this period, and upon returning the negative results, they will be allowed to come out of their rooms and commence outdoor training and practice sessions.

Cummins was bought by KKR last year for a whopping ₹15.5 crore and he had become the most expensive foreign player in the history of the tournament. However, this record has been broken by Chris Morris as he was purchased by Rajasthan Royals for ₹16.25 crore this season.

IPL 2021 will begin on April 9 this year with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians locking horns in the tournament opener. KKR will play their first game on April 11 against SunRisers Hyderabad.

Sunil Narine and Andre Russell had arrived in India on Tuesday and the duo is currently undergoing seven-day quarantine and then they will begin training with the KKR squad.

Dinesh Karthik, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Vaibhav Arora, and support staff including assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and assistant bowling coach Omkar Salvi were among the first set of people to arrive at the KKR team hotel on March 20. (ANI)