Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs in the last qualifier in Chennai on Friday to secure a place in their third IPL final. But that win came after a crushing eight-wicket defeat by two-time champions Kolkata in the first play-off in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Hyderabad’s only title in the world’s most lucrative T20 tournament came in 2016 under another Australian, David Warner. Fast bowler Cummins, for whom Hyderabad paid Rs 20.50 crore in the IPL auction, led Australia to both the world Test championship title and an ODI World Cup triumph last year.
Hyderabad have racked up record IPL totals of 277 and 287 in a high-scoring tournament, with Cummins’ astute leadership and rotation of bowlers also an advantage when defending totals.
Standing in Cummins’ way will be fellow Australian and Kolkata quick Mitchell Starc, who rattled Hyderabad’s top order in the first qualifier and who became the most expensive player in IPL history when Kolkata paid Rs 24.75 crore for his services, overtaking Cummins in the same auction in December.
Starc justified the outlay when he returned figures of 3-34 on Tuesday, including bowling fellow Australian and Hyderabad opener Travis Head for a duck.
Kolkata, led by Shreyas Iyer, have been the side to beat in the competition and topped the 10-team table with 20 points in the league phase.
Apart from the big signing of Starc, Kolkata brought Gautam Gambhir on board as mentor after the former India batsman led the team to two titles in 2012 and 2014. Kolkata beat home side Chennai Super Kings to lift their first title the last time they played a final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in 2012.
