There were a lot of talk around Pat Cummins ahead of his Indian Premier League return. The Aussie pacer, the No.1 Test bowler in the world, was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping INR 15.5 crore last December during the auction in Kolkata making him the most expensive overseas player in IPL history. But Cummins failed to get off to a good start as he conceded 49 runs off his three overs to enter an unwanted list.
Cummins was introduced in the fifth over of the game by KKR captain Dinesh Karthik and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma pulled the very first ball over deep-midwicket for a six. While Cummins looked to bounce back by changing his length, another delivery on good length saw Rohit once again emulating the earlier shot.
On his return in the 15th over, Cummins was clobbered for a boundary and a six by Saurabh Tiwary. The first ball, back of the length angled across to the left-hander, was hit with a flat bat over mid on. The second ball, length delivery around off, was dispatched comfortably over long-on fence.
Sunil Narine that managed to contain Mumbai's brisk scoring rate by conceding 11 off his final three overs, but another poor return from Cummins in the 17th over saw KKR lose the momentum once again. The Aussie was smashed for two back-to-back boundaries by Hardik Pandya before hammering a six off the last ball as Cummins leaked 19 runs in that over.
Cummins, in all, conceded 49 runs in three overs. His economy rate of 16.33 in the game is the joint-second worst by any KKR bowler who has delivered at least three overs in a game.
Tied with Jaydev Unadkat (49 off three overs against Mumbai Indians in 2016), the two only stand behind L Balaji who had conceded 51 runs off three overs, also against Mumbai, in 2011 at the Eden Gardens.
