Kolkata Knight Riders have announced today that they have roped in New Zealand fast-medium bowler Tim Southee to replace Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins for the remaining matches of the IPL 2021. Cummins, KKR’s most expensive buy, has decided to pull out of the remainder of the IPL season in UAE due to personal reasons.
Officially a Knight 😍
Kiwi pacer #TimSouthee to don 💜💛 for the UAE leg of #IPL2021.
Welcome aboard, Tim.#KKR #IPL2021 https://t.co/l0fRhdEVhV
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) August 26, 2021
KKR has stated in a press release that the franchise has signed New Zealand pacer Tim Southee who will replace Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins for the remainder of the IPL season for the year 2021.
As said above, Cummins has cited personal reasons as the cause for his unavailability. Southee is a very experienced bowler and has taken a combined 603 wickets in all formats of the game for his country in 305 games.
Head Coach of the team and former Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum has said that they are delighted to have Southee in their team for he is a proven match-winner and will be a welcome addition to the strong pace attack of KKR. He added that with Cummins being unavailable, they wanted to add experience and leadership to their bowling attack and for the coach, Southee is the ideal man for the job. Southee and McCullum were team-mates for a pretty long time when they played for New Zealand.
Southee didn’t get any buyers in the 2020 IPL auction. He played last for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019. He has also played for Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and Mumbai Indians. He has taken 46 wickets at an economy rate of 8.74 runs per over in the IPL so far.
KKR will resume its season at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium where they will play Royal Challengers Bangalore on the 20th of September.
