I just don’t think T20 is his best format – Jason Gillespie questions Pat Cummins’ ability to justify ₹20.50 crore price tag in IPL 2024

Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie has questioned Pat Cummins’ huge price of INR 20.50 crores in IPL 2024 auction. The Australian skipper was bagged for a whopping amount by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history after Mitchell Starc.

Cummins took 15 wickets in 11 matches of the ODI World Cup and thus he played a key role in taking Australia to glory for the sixth time. The Australian pacer has taken 45 wickets in 42 IPL matches at an average of 30.16 and an economy rate of 8.54.

Cummins didn’t play in IPL 2023 in order to prepare for the World Cup. The right-arm pacer has bagged 55 wickets in 50 T20I matches at 24.55 and an economy rate of 7.38. Thus, the shortest format of the game isn’t Pat Cummins’ strongest suit.

“Pat’s obviously a quality bowler and a quality leader, we’ve seen that, I just don’t think T20 is his best format. I think he’s a Test bowler, personally. I think Test cricket is his absolute bread and butter. He’s a good T20 bowler, make no mistake. But that’s massive overs for me,” former Australia bowler Gillespie told SEN Sportsday SA on Thursday.

Cummins last played a T20I for Australia in the T20 World Cup 2022. The right-arm pacer feels the lack of game time hasn’t helped him settle in the T20I format.

“I feel like I haven’t played a heap of T20 cricket, and in some ways I feel like I haven’t played my best T20 cricket for a little while,” Cummins said during the ODI World Cup.

Meanwhile, Cummins picked up three wickets in the opening Test match against Pakistan at Perth and led the team to a convincing win of 360 runs. Cummins will now lead Australia in the second Test match against Pakistan, which will kick off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne from December 26.