One of the greatest things about the IPL is how it pits international teammates against each other. Over the years, the greatest of teammates been put face to face by in the IPL and have made for some fascinating contests. Jasprit Bumrah bowling to Virat Kohli, or R Ashwin sending down carrom balls to Rohit Sharma have made for interesting viewing, with fans loving every bit of it.
On Wednesday, another such face-off took place when Pat Cummins of Kolkata Knight Riders bowled to Rajasthan Royals’ captain Steve Smith. Smith and Cummins have been instrumental to the current Australian team’s success and playing together, have produced many a memorable performance to lead the national team’s triumph.
However, as Cummins to bowled to Smith on Wednesday, the fast bowler needed just three balls to dismiss his former Australia captain cheaply. After the match, Smith revealed what Cummins told him once he had him out caught behind.
“It wasn’t a great battle (with Cummins), he won easily and spoke to him now and he said you smack those in the nets, sometimes you just get a good one,” Smith, the RR captain, said.
KKR beat RR comprehensively by 37 runs as Smith’s team failed to chase down the 175-run target. The defeat was RR’s first having achieved back-to-back wins against Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. Smith admitted there were certain areas the team needed to work on and revealed how moving from the Sharjah Cricket Ground to the Dubai International stadium led to a few miscalculations.
“Didn’t quite go to plan. That happens in T20 cricket sometimes, we have a few areas to improve on, and keep moving forward. You could go one way or another (with the toss). KKR like to chase, so we planned to put their death bowling under pressure but obviously couldn’t do that as we lost too many wickets upfront,” Smith said further.
“Few of us still thought we were playing in Sharjah. It did (feel a lot different), the far side is a very big side and we didn’t see too many balls going there and the other side is slightly shorter. We probably didn’t adapt to the dimensions and the wicket, also dropped a few catches which cost us. It is about forming whatever XI is best for the conditions we are facing; we will wait and see. Disappointing tonight but we need to keep moving forward.”
