The IPL 2021 finalists Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will miss the services of their Australian stars Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch, as they will not be available for their first five matches of IPL 2022, due to their ongoing international commitments for the national team.
KKR mentor David Hussey feels that the two will be match-fit and ready to turn out immediately once available.
“Well, it is a concern, you want your best players available, but international cricket should be the priority. Every cricketer should want to play international cricket for their countries so they have commitments that way. I think Cummins and Finch will miss the first five games but they will be cricket fit and cricket ready. So, once they hit the ground running, both quality people and they will fit into the dressing room perfectly well," Hussey said during a virtual press conference.
KKR splurged Rs 7.25 crore on Cummins at the IPL 2022 mega auction and then signed Finch as the replacement for Alex Hales who pulled out of the season citing bio-bubble concerns.
Meanwhile, Hussey called new KKR captain Shreyas Iyer a born leader.
"Shreyas is a born leader, just the way he walks around, he commands respect. Knowing Pat (Cummins) really well, he would be a good deputy and would also lead from the front. But the way Shreyas has captained in the past for Delhi, he has a very good cricket brain and a nice vision of how to play the game and I think he will express himself really well. I think it's a smart move from Brendon (McCullum) and KKR management,” Hussey said.
Meanwhile, the former Australia cricketer Hussey spoke about picking out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane in the IPL 2022 auction.
He said: "He's been a class player for over a decade, he's dominated for Rajasthan Royals and I believe he has at least 5-10 years of international cricket left in him. He might not be scoring the runs he wants recently but the way he is training he's going to dominate in the IPL and also he's a leader amongst the group as well."
IPL 2022: Flexible Shreyas Iyer ready to bat any position for KKR in upcoming IPL
Meanwhile, Hussey also said that KKR is not missing a quality wicketkeeper and expects Sheldon Jackson and Sam Billings to do the job perfectly.
“No, I think we bought well in the auction. We have Sheldon Jackson; he has dominated the Ranji Trophy and he is a good striker of the ball and he has been with the team for a few years now. We also have Sam Billings; he has played Test cricket for England and he has kept wickets for England in the shorter formats. We are pretty well versed in the wicketkeeping department and it is up to us as the support staff to get the best out of our players," Hussey explained.
KKR are scheduled to play CSK in the IPL 2022 opener on Saturday in Mumbai.
(PTI inputs)
