IPL 2024: Pat Cummins reflects on facing Mitchell Starc during KKR vs SRH clash, says ‘going to be weird seeing him in other dugout’

Pat Cummins shared his thoughts on facing his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on March 23. During the match, Cummins will lead the Sunrisers, while Starc is expected to challenge the opposition with his formidable pace and precision. Cummins is also known for his ability to make a significant impact with both bat and ball. 

It's going to be weird looking across: Cummins

"I will say this: hopefully, I don't have to face Starc because that means our batters have done quite well. It's funny... it's one of the beauties of the IPL; I have been playing with Starcy for 15 years, [and] I can't remember another game where I have played against him. Also, it's going to be weird looking across and seeing him in the other dugout," Cummins said in the pre-match press conference.

"Yeah, being an opposition captain, seeing how we go about playing him will be an interesting part of tomorrow. But we're both bowlers, so I am not sure we'll cross [paths] too much," Cummins added.

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Watch video of Cummins and Starc ahead of clash

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During the IPL auction last year, Cummins made history by becoming the first cricketer to be bought for over INR 20 crores. SRH secured him for INR 20.50 crores. He held the record as the highest-paid cricketer in IPL auction history. Thereafter, Starc was acquired by the Knight Riders for INR 24.75 crores and became the most expensive buy in IPL auction history.

This came after KKR decided to release Cummins and Lockie Ferguson at the end of the previous season. Nitish Rana, who captained KKR in 2023 in Shreyas Iyer's absence, stated that Starc provides a potent option for the team, especially during the death overs.

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SRH IPL 2024 squad

Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Jaydev Unadkat, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Markande, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Maharaj Singh, Nitish Reddy

KKR IPL 2024 squad

Philip Salt(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Manish Pandey, Srikar Bharat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Anukul Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chetan Sakariya, Sherfane Rutherford, Vaibhav Arora, Dushmantha Chameera, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sakib Hussain, Suyash Sharma

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