“I give back 100% to the team, on the field. I don’t worry about the result. When the commitment is great, it is a victory for me.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (former Indian Cricket Team Captain)
This article is dedicated to the story of a skilled and revered Aussie pacer who became one of the top bowlers of the world, Pat Cummins. His full name is Patrick James Cummins who plays primarily as a fast bowler and right-handed batsman.
Making his test debut when he was only 18 the Aussie pacer has evolved extensively over the years and established himself as one of the pillars in the international cricket landscape. In IPL auction 2019 Cummins became the most expensive foreign signing to date and surpassed England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes by signing a contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders at whopping INR 15.5 crores.
That’s not the only part of the story as he also became the second most expensive IPL buy after Yuvraj Singh who was signed by the Delhi Daredevils in 2015 for an amount of INR 16 crores. That’s incredible, right? Pat is extremely popular in the fantasy cricket landscape as he is quite young and fantasy owners love to cherry-pick him and add to their virtual teams to raise the chance of them winning lucrative rewards.
What is so special in Cummins that made him the one with the highest demand in the IPL landscape? In an industry that is so dynamic and full of cricketers who are much more powerful as well as experienced? To get an answer you must walk through his journey in detail. So, shall we begin?
What’s The Background Of Pat Cummins?
The Aussie pacer was born on the 8th of May 1993 in Westmead which is a suburb in Sydney to Maria and Peter Cummins. He has two sisters Lara and Kara Cummins and two brothers Matt and Tim Cummins. Pat studied at St Paul’s Grammar School situated in the suburb of Sydney.
He was passionate about the sport since his childhood days and gradually this determination was seen in how he has grown as a professional cricketer. Pat Cummins is a student of Bachelor of Business at the University of Technology, Sydney and an Elite Athlete Program scholar. Let’s have a glimpse of Pat Cummin’s journey of the game to date in detail.
Would You Mind Starting With Exploring The Domestic Cricket Career Of Pat Cummins?
Pat began to play cricket in the Blue Mountains for the Glenbrook Blaxland Cricket Club and his hero was one of the fastest Aussie fast bowlers of all-time Brett Lee. In 2010, Cummins made an entry to the international cricket playing from the end of Penrith.
The season (2010–11 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash) proved to be one of the best years for Cummins as he grabbed 4 wickets by giving only 16 runs against Tasmania and won the title of “Man Of The Match.” Also, along with another Aussie pacer, Nathan Lyon Pat was named as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
In 2011, Pat joined another Australian cricket franchise the Sydney Sixers and next year, he shifted to Perth Scorchers but unfortunately missed the 2012 season because of an injury. However, Pat debuted for the team in Perth (2014) when they defeated the Adelaide Strikers.
How The International Career Graph Of Pat Cummins Has Evolved Over The Years?
In June 2011, Pat signed a Cricket Australia contract and in October in the same year, he played two T20 international games for the team against South Africa. He performed excellently in these two matches by taking 3/25 and 2/26 and as a result, he was selected in the Test team to play against South Africans.
Pat Cummins entered the Wanderers Stadium located in Johannesburg which marked his test debut in November 2011. This was Pat’s fourth career first-class cricket match and it made him the youngest Aussie player after Ian Craig (1953) to do the same. Cummins nailed the test match by taking 1/38 and 6/79 and again made a record of being the second youngest Aussie to grab six wickets in an innings.
Besides, Pat made 13 runs in the second innings of the game which included an amazing four that led the squad to victory. He was awarded the “Man Of The Match.”
Cummins was cherry-picked in the Aussie provisional cricket squad to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup championship to be held in August 2012 in Queensland. With this, Pat made his presence even stronger in the Australian cricket team. Although Cummins suffered from a stress fracture in his back and after October 2012 he managed to appear on the grounds for the Northern Ireland Cricket Academy on 19 June 2013. After the retirement of Ryan James Harris Cummins was called for the 2015 Ashes but wasn’t kept in the test squad. However, he played in the ODI and T20 series in the same tournament.
Pat Cummins returned to the test cricket niche on 17th of March 2017 exactly after 1946 days due to multiple injuries but the credit to him getting selected in the team goes to an injured Mitchell Starc.
Cummins proved his skills in the 2017-18 summer Australian cricket and earned recognition as a handy lower-order batsman by scoring two 40s in the Ashes tournament. Also, in a warm-up match against South Africa Pat made his 2nd first-class 50 runs.
In 2017-18, when the Australian cricket team visited South Africa Pat scored his first Test half-century in the fourth match of the series. Pat was honored with a national contract by Cricket Australia for 2018-19 in April 2018. Cricbuzz named him as the 2018 Test XI of the year because he took 44 wickets in that year.
The Cummins Rise To Glory: 2019
The year 2019 was extremely lucky for Cummins as he earned the vice-captaincy of the Australian cricket squad along with Travis Head. He proved himself in the 2018-19 Sri Lanka tour to Australia by taking 10 wickets back to back in the first test match in the Gabba and paving the way to the team’s victory. With a total of 14 wickets that he took, he was named the “Man of the Series.”
Pat played in the T20 series against India in February 2019 and showcased his finest ODI bowling skills by taking 5 wickets and giving only 70 runs. Finally, in April 2019 Cummins was selected in the Australian cricket team for facing the 2019 World Cup tournament and played his 50th ODI against the West Indian squad on 6 June 2019.
Cummins was picked in the Aussie squad for the 2019 Ashes tournament to be held in England and became the leading wicket-taker by grabbing 29 wickets in just 5 matches with a smashing average of 19.62. Pat was awarded the Allan Border Medal in 2019 and with this, another golden feather added to his international cricket career.
What Sort Of Bond Pat Cummins Share With The Indian Premier League Till Date?
The Kolkata Knight Riders were the first IPL franchise to buy Cummins for the 2014 Indian Premier League championship. He didn’t get a chance to play much in that season and also in the next couple of IPL tournaments as well.In the IPL auction 2017, Cummins was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for a whopping 4.5 crores.
In the next season of IPL (2018) Mumbai Indians picked Pat by paying 5.4 crores but he couldn’t play in the championship due to his injury. What happened in the IPL auction 2019 for the series to be held in 2020 caught the attention of all the cricket lovers as well as the fantasy owners.
Pat Cummins was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a huge amount of 15.5 crores that made him the most expensive overseas signing in the history of IPL to date. This deal has shaken the entire IPL landscape and everyone is wonderstruck with the record set by this Aussie pacer. Now, everyone is looking forward to his performance in the tournament with the hope that he will recreate the magic that he is capable to do on fields.
How About Exploring Cummins Career Stats At A Glance?
Pat Cummins is quite young and has a long way to go but if we look at his career overall stats than in total he has played 30 test matches, 61 ODI games, 25 T20 international tournaments, and 16 IPL series. He has taken 143 wickets and scored 647 runs in all these matches which is great in itself.
In test cricket, Pat is having a batting average of 17.03 and 21.83 in terms of bowling. Talking about the ODIs his batting average is 9.3 and 28.2 goes for bowling. Coming to IPL he has a smashing batting average of 12.83 and for bowling its 29.35. Overall, the stats of Cummins are quite impressive and he has maintained consistency in all the formats of the game which is one of the rarest attributes a cricketer can have.
The Final Say On The Aussie Pacer
How Pat Cummins has risen to glory is commendable and becoming the most expensive overseas IPL player is one of the best accomplishments for his so far. Strong, athletic with some arm speed, he is characterized as clean-cut and smiley. All those years in rehab, due to injuries have made his temperament grounded. He has made it evident that barring injuries there is nothing on the planet that can stop him from reaching new heights.
