Kolkata Knight Riders have replaced Tim Southee with Pat Cummins for the remaining 31 games of the Indian Premier League (IPL), confirmed by the franchise on Thursday, August 26.
Pat Cummins has opted out of the remaining IPL matches following personal reasons and KKR has roped in Tim Southee to take his place in the 31 games of IPL.
After featuring in IPL for six consecutive years, Southee has been unsold in the 2020 auction of IPL. His last appearance in IPL came in 2019 when he featured for RCB. Although he got the chance to play only 3 games, he finished on an economy of 13.
The 32-year-old has featured for Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians (MI), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In his IPL career, he picked up 28 wickets with an economy rate of 8.47.
“Tim has been a strong player and has been the spearhead of the New Zealand team. In the UAE conditions, we hope he will be very effective,”
KKR official statement said.
The exact of signing the right-hand pacer is not confirmed but Pat Cummins was acquired by KKR for 15.5 crores in the 2019 auction of IPL.
Southee will be playing as the third New Zealander in KKR, who was supposed to be the part of the squad for Bangladesh and Pakistan tours but he did not get his place under Tom Latham.
KKR’s head coach, Brendan McCullum who will not be the part of Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which is starting from Thursday, will take charge of KKR in UAE.
“He will be back for the IPL,”
said the official of KKR, which also owns the Trinbago Knight Riders franchise in the CPL.
Kolkata Knight Riders are placed seventh in the IPL points table with four points as they won two of their seven games. They are hoping a lot from Southee to get them a strong comeback in the tournament.
“He will be a backup to Lockie Ferguson. With his new ball skills, he should be very effective in the UAE conditions,”
the KKR official said.
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