The 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will witness a new-look Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with Shreyas Iyer as the new captain. Shreyas, who was roped in for INR 12.25 crore at the mega auction last month in Bengaluru, among the 20 other played signed by KKR, was picked as the franchise's new skipper for the 2022 edition of the tournament and Australia's Pat Cummins, who as well was bought back by KKR, gave his verdict on the franchise's selection.
During the pre-match virtual conference for the third Test against Pakistan in Lahore, Cummins recalled sharing the dressing room with Shreyas during the 2017 IPL season for Delhi (Daredevils).
"Shreyas, I played with at Delhi(Daredevils), we got on really well. He's seem like a very calm guy and seems in form at the moment. I'm so excited to go over there, I have some close friends I will be playing alongside, can't wait," he said.
Cummins, who went for a INR 15.50 crore in 2019 auction - the most expensive foreign buy at an IPL auction, was earlier released by KKR as the franchise had retained all-rounder Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 8 crore), Venkatesh Iyer (INR 8 crore) and Sunil Narine (INR 6 crore). Cummins was however bought back for INR 7.25 crore at the mega auction.
{{/usCountry}}Cummins, who went for a INR 15.50 crore in 2019 auction - the most expensive foreign buy at an IPL auction, was earlier released by KKR as the franchise had retained all-rounder Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 8 crore), Venkatesh Iyer (INR 8 crore) and Sunil Narine (INR 6 crore). Cummins was however bought back for INR 7.25 crore at the mega auction.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on the new-look KKR, the Australia Test captain said, "Really excited. It's been great that most of the squad has been able to kept together. So, most of the players and staff know really really well."
Cummins also shared his view on Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodian of cricket laws, imposing a complete ban on the use of saliva with effect from October this year.
"I don't think so (permanent saliva ban will hamper the performance of the swing bowlers)," he said.
"I don't think it has made a huge effect, as big as we might have thought it would. We can still use sweat so it's not too big a deal," he added.