Australia pacer Pat Cummins, who had represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2014 & 2015, is set to join the franchise once again after they fetched him for a hefty sum of INR 15.5 Crore at the IPL 2020 auction in Kolkata on Thursday (December 19).

Soon after securing the services of Cummins, KKR shared a video of the Aussie speedster, in which he expressed his eagerness to play for the franchise.

“Absolutely pumped to be back on with KKR. It’s where I was for the first couple of years. Can’t wait to work with Baz (Brendon) McCullum, Eoin Morgan; back with Andre Russell, Sunil Narine. Can’t wait to get over there,” Cummins said in the clip.

When the auction finally got over, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum took to Twitter and wrote: “Two outstanding gentlemen will return to @KKRiders! @Eoin16 with his power middle order game & outstanding leadership help for @DineshKarthik & one of the games premier fast bowlers @patcummins30 who I feel was the best player on offer for this years @IPL auction Welcome boys!”

In reply, Cummins stated: “Can’t wait Baz.”

McCullum the jokingly suggested Cummins to take rest from the remainder of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand so that he will be in peak condition for the IPL.

The KKR chief coach’s response left Cummins in splits.

Pat Cummins is the numero uno bowler in ICC Test rankings while he has taken 92 wickets in 77 T20s at an economy rate of 7.72 so far.

Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore were engaged in an intense bidding war for Cummins before KKR joined the bid at INR 15 Crore and eventually overpowered the two franchises.

With the price he fetched, Cummins also became the most expensive foreign buy in the history of IPL, surpassing Ben Stokes’ amount of INR 14.5 crore in the 2017 auction