Pat Cummins was bought for Rs. 15.50 crores by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 auctions in December last year. On his first outing for KKR, against Mumbai Indians, Cummins had a torrid time in the middle as he conceded 49 runs off three overs, going at 16.33 runs per over. While bowlers in the shortest format can have bad days as Cummins did, fans on Twitter were equal parts disappointed, upset and even furious at Cummins' costly adventure in Abu Dhabi. “I am #PatCummins. I can only bowl Short pitch ball. I have no variations. I am fooling @KKRiders big time. I am getting 1.2 Cr per match,” said Pratik Saraogi on Twitter.
“Later tonight, someone will be do a ROI presentation to the #KKR owners,” wrote Gaurav Sethi.
But not all were critical of Cummins. Some could empathise with the bowler for having a bad day.
“That's the problem with hefty price tag, they come after your life just after one bad day,” wrote Vishesh Roy.
Even former cricketers got into the act. Pragyan Ojha criticised Cummins for bowling to Rohit Sharma's strengths while Aakash Chopra remarked on how Cummins conceded 15 off his first over – close to what he cost KKR at the auctions.
Some went beyond criticising Cummins and brought in other players who have had such bad days in the past and have earned infamous reputations for themselves in the IPL.
Pat Cummins is the No. 1-ranked bowler on ICC Test rankings.
Cummins saved grace with the bat, though, hitting 33 runs off just 12 balls. He smashed Jasprit Bumrah for four sixes in the 18th over but the asking rate had climbed to 28 an over by then.
Eventually, KKR finished on 149/6 in reply to Mumbai Indians' 195/5 and lost by 49 runs.