Published 11:21 IST, December 27th 2019

IPL has played into Australia's hands with lucrative Pat Cummins deal: Justin Langer

Australia Head coach Justin Langer was very optimistic about Test vice-captain Pat Cummins' record-breaking deal with the Kolkata Knight Riders. Read more.

SportFit
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Australia vice-captain Pat Cummins broke all sorts of records on December 19 when he got picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping ₹15.5 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 auction. Cummins is set to join the two-time champions for the 2020 season of the IPL. The World's No.1 bowler in Test cricket had not prioritised T20s for the last two years. However, since February 2019, the pacer has made been a T20I regular for Australia.

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Justin Langer hopes for the best after Pat Cummins deal

Justin Langer, the head coach of the Australian team, recently talked about Cummins' massive deal with the Knight Riders. According to multiple media reports in Australia, Langer is extremely pleased that Cummins will take part in the IPL 2020 and believes that the financial windfall will not change the fast bowler as a person since he plays first for the love of the sport. Another positive Langer sees with many Australian cricketers getting lucrative IPL deals for the upcoming season is that they will get much-needed match practice ahead of the T20 World Cup next year on home soil, as it is an opportunity to them to hone their skills and know more about their rivals.

However, Langer is only hopeful for the best even as he is concerned about the IPL increasing the workload of some of his players. Cummins' teammate and another top bowler, Mitchell Starc, opted out of the IPL auction to take rest after a strenuous 2019. year. Yet the head coach hopes that the upcoming IPL stint for many of his players will help the side perform well in not just the 2020 World Cup, but also the 2021 T20 World Cup, which is set to take place in India a year later.

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Kolkata Knight Riders stack themselves up for the new IPL

The Kolkata Knight Riders made some very vital purchases as they acquired the services of Australia Test vice-captain Pat Cummins and England's newest superstar Tom Banton. Here is there full squad ahead of the 2020 IPL. Dinesh Karthik is set to captain the side.

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