Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum believes the Australian Test captain Pat Cummins would add an element of leadership for captain Shreyas Iyer to feed off.
“Pretty delighted to get Pat back. He’s going to add another layer of leadership in and around our skipper Shreyas, who has been impressive as well. We have got a few selection headaches actually. We have more guys to pick from than not, which is a good problem to have and hopefully we get them right,” McCullum told Kolkata Knight Riders’ official website.
“He’s one of those guys who blend so well in this environment and is a wonderful human being. Huss (David Hussey, mentor) was adamant he wanted some Australians, I was, obviously, a bit hesitant about too many Australians (laughs) but Pat’s an absolute beauty, a wonderful cricketer, and a strong leader as well,” he added.
Cummins, who arrived last week, is available for selection for their next game against the Mumbai Indians and adds to a few selection headaches. Cummins’ inclusion would bolster an in-form pace bowling that has led the Knight Riders to two wins out of three games.
The Knight Riders prepare to take on Mumbai Indians on Wednesday (April 6) and even though the Rohit Sharma-led team is coming off two losses in as many games, McCullum is not discounting the five-time IPL champions.
“Mumbai is Mumbai! (Laughs) They know what they are doing. We are very respectful of the Mumbai Indians management, the coaching staff, and the leadership. So we know that even with a couple of losses early in this tournament, they would still remain poised under pressure. We are expecting them to play well. We expect every team that we come up against to play well and we expect us to play well as well. Hopefully, if we can be present and calm in pressure times, then hopefully it means we come out on top,” McCullum said.
