Pat Cummins Won’t Change His Attitude Even For a ‘Billion Dollars’, Says Justin Langer

Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas recruit in IPL's history when Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for Rs 15.5 crore.

Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas recruit in IPL’s history when Kolkata Knight Riders forked a whopping Rs 15.5 crore to secure him at the auction held on December 18. Australia coach Justin Langer feels that Cummins won’t be affected by the burden of a huge price-tag and expects him to continue performing at the same level that has made him one of the leading fast bowlers of the current generation.

“You could pay him (Cummins) a $100 million, you could pay him a $1 billion, it’s not going to change him,” Langer said on Wednesday. “They’re the sort of people you want in your team. You could pay him a billion dollars a day and it’s not going to change him. He just loves playing cricket, he’s an outstanding young bloke…it’s not going to affect him.”

Cummins wasn’t the only Australian to attract attention at the IPL 2020 auction held in Kolkata. Apart from fast bowler, the other Australian cricketers who commanded big price include Glenn Maxwell (Rs 10.75 crore), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 8 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 4.8 crore), Aaron Finch (Rs 4.4 crore), Kane Richardson (Rs 4 crore) among others.

Langer is hopeful the IPL stint is going to help Australian cricketers sharpen their skills ahead of back-to-back T20 world cups in 2020 and 2021. “Ultimately it’s their decision as well, they play 12 months of the year now, you have to look at short term and long term, you certainly can’t begrudge anyone being in the IPL, but from a purely big-picture point of view from us, the fact they are going to play 10-14 T20 games, where we’ll play in two years, and with the World Cup [next season] that can only help their skills. Hopefully it’s a win-win for everyone,” he said.