Pat Cummins has found a way to silence Virat Kohli in any format of the game. He did it in the World Test Championship final between India and Australia. Cummins followed it up in the final of the ICC World Cup 2023 between the two teams. And the Aussie star was again spot on in the SRH vs RCB IPL 2024 match in Hyderabad.
Kohli had struck a fifty in the final of the World Cup but couldn’t convert it into a big one as Cummins got rid of him. Pat has taken his mastery to another level in the 17th season of the Indian Premier League.
Former India player Irfan Pathan said that Kohli has been finding it hard to deal with the plans of the Australia bowler for a long time.
“Virat once again failed in front of Pat Cummins. He had no answers to Hyderabad’s captain’s brilliance. Pat is using variations to stop Virat from scoring runs. Other bowlers have also been made aware of the plans not to allow Virat to break free. They bowled into the pitch and gave no room or pace to the batter.
“The deliveries were kept away from his hitting arc, forcing the batter to try something different. All in all, Cummins had his plans ready for the star player and executed them perfectly,” Irfan Pathan said.
The 35-year-old batter took 43 balls to accumulate 51 runs in a match that saw RCB posting 206/7 in 20 overs. He hit 4 fours and 1 six. On the other hand, his teammate Rajat Patidar amassed 50 runs off 20 balls.
Chasing 207 runs for their sixth win of the season, the Orange Army managed 171/8 and fell short by 35 runs.