'Thanks for spoiling really good game of cricket’ - Ravi Shastri on Pat Cummins' furious hitting in KKR vs MI game

Match 14 of IPL 2022 saw KKR and MI squaring off against each other in an entertaining contest. However, the night got named on just one man and it was none other than Pat Cummins, who got furious with the bat, scoring 56* off 15. Cummins smashed the joint-fastest fifty in IPL’s history while chasing 162 runs and wrapped up the game with four overs to spare.

In the same light of events, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri talked of how Cummins literally spoiled a good game of cricket. It was definitely a bitter pill to swallow as the Australian wreaked complete havoc with the bat as soon as he walked on to the field. Shastri also added that scoring 35 runs in an over is unreal as Cummins smashed Daniel Sams (for 35 runs) to all the corners of the ground.

“It’s a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. That was bizarre. It’s like someone giving you a chocolate and before you can say ‘thank you’ it’s in the other guy’s mouth and he is saying ‘thank you’.”

It’s been a long time since I have seen a match like this: Ravi Shastri

“It was unreal. 35 runs in an over. You have to start thinking when you saw a match like this in which the other team had the upper hand to an extent. Then it goes maybe 60-40 towards the Mumbai Indians. Come the next over, it’s over. It’s been a long time since I have seen a match like this and I’ve seen a lot of cricket.”

Talking during the post-match presentation, MI skipper Rohit Sharma also added that it’s going to be really difficult to digest. The match was looking quite in favour of MI during the middle phase but Cummins spoiled it all. Cummins also took two wickets in the same game to flaunt the all-round show.

“Like Rohit Sharma said, it is not going to be easy to digest. Look at the striking, he was picking his spots, everything coming from the meat of the bat. Even that mistimed shot almost went all the way, great effort (in the field) but it was a no-ball. He ran the two, hit the next one for four before you could bat your eyelids, the last one went for six and that is it. Game, set, and match. It’s like someone walking past them would tell him, ‘Thanks for spoiling a really good game of cricket,” he concluded.