The 28-year-old Australian all-rounder has decided to pull out of the remaining matches of IPL 2021 in UAE due to personal reasons.
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The Kolkata Knight Riders announced on Thursday that they had signed New Zealand pacer Tim Southee as a replacement for Australia all-rounder Pat Cummins for the remainder of the IPL 2021 season. Cummins has decided to withdraw from the remaining IPL 2021 matches in the UAE owing to personal reasons. Southee has previously played for the Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He will now reunite with his former captain – Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum.
“Kolkata Knight Riders, the two-time IPL Champions, has announced today that New Zealand pacer Tim Southee will replace Australian pace sensation Pat Cummins for the remainder of the Vivo Indian Premier League 2021 season,” KKR said in a release. Cummins has made himself unavailable for the season owing to personal reasons. On the other hand, Southee comes in with a vast experience of 305 international games for the Kiwis and also has 603 wickets to his name.
Meanwhile, McCullum also expressed his satisfaction in the New Zealand pacer joining their team. He said, “We are delighted to have Southee in our ranks. He is a proven match-winner and a welcome addition to the already strong pace attack of KKR. With Cummins being unavailable we wanted to add experience and leadership to our bowling group and Southee is the ideal man for the job.”
The experienced New Zealand pacer, Southee, who had gone unsold in the auctions held in 2020, had last played for the RCB in 2019. KKR will restart its campaign by playing against the RCB at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on 20th of September.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) announced replacements in their respective squads for the remainder of the season ahead of the resumption of the VIVO IPL 2021 in the United Arab Emirates on September 19.
“PBKS have signed Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis for Riley Meredith. Ellis recently was in the limelight following his hat-trick on international debut against Bangladesh earlier this month. The right-arm pacer is also one of the reserve players in Australia’s 2021 T20I World Cup squad. PBKS have also picked England leg-spinner Adil Rashid to replace Jhye Richardson,” an IPL Media Advisory has stated.
Earlier, RCB have brought in Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga as replacement for Australia’s Adam Zampa. In the recent three-match T20I series against India in Sri Lanka, Hasaranga bagged a total of 7 wickets, including a 4-wicket haul in the final T20I. Other replacements for RCB are Dushmantha Chameera for Daniel Sams, left-arm quick George Garton for Kane Richardson and Tim David for New Zealand’s Finn Allen, the statement added.
Meanwhile, RR have brought in New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Glenn Phillips as a replacement for England’s Jofra Archer. Phillips has so far played 25 T20Is and has 506 runs against his name. He has scored a hundred and 2 half centuries and has a strike-rate of 149.70. Besides, South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi will replace Andrew Tye in the Rajasthan Royals squad.
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