Pat Cummins leaves IPL midway due to hip injury

In a massive development, the Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has left the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp due to a minor hip injury and will be unavailable for the last leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. 

The Australia Test captain will embark on an important tour of Sri Lanka next month, and the return comes on the back of a proper load management for the pacer. He will complete rehabilitation at home (Sydney), before flying out to the Island nation with the squad. 

According to the reports, it is being said that Cummins was playing with a niggle throughout the IPL, but the minimal chances of qualification to the KKR playoffs was one of the reasons for his exit. 

The fast bowler is expected to recover in a fortnight, but it has been announced that he will miss the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka scheduled to take place in the second week of June. 

Cummins was left out of the KKR team after an ordinary performance in the first half of the season but returned to play against Mumbai Indians (MI) and finished with figures of 3/22 in four overs, which helped the team to secure a victory by 52 runs. 

After the fixture, the fast bowler had reckoned that he could not bowl well in the initial games and felt good to get a chance under his belt and perform well for Knight Riders. He reckoned that having experienced Tim Southee as his pace-partner helped him to get better in crunch moments. 

"I didn't really think I bowled as well as I could in the first four games. Just a little bit off my mark; so good to get a chance tonight. I felt a little bit better out there. Having someone like Tim Southee as well, an experienced bowler is always helpful to bowl alongside," Cummins said. 

In a total of 5 appearances, the Australian Test captain contributed with 7 wickets and garnered 63 runs. On the other hand, KKR have five wins in 12 league matches and need to win their remaining two games with a big margin to have an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs.