Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have roped in New Zealand pacer Tim Southee as the replacement for Australian speedster Pat Cummins. Cummins, who created history by becoming the costliest buy in the history of IPL auctions, has pulled out of the remaining matches due to personal reasons.

As reported by Cricbuzz, the Eoin Morgan-led side have roped in Southee as a replacement for Cummins – who pulled out of the remaining 31 matches due to personal reasons.

“Tim has been a strong player and has been the spearhead of the New Zealand team. In the UAE conditions, we hope he will be very effective,” a KKR official told Cricbuzz.

Southee had gone unsold at the IPL 2020 auction after representing Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2019. Southee had a poor outing for RCB in 2019 where he managed to pick just one wicket from three matches. He was a part of IPL for six consecutive years from 2014 to 2019 before going unsold in IPL 2020. In total, he has played 40 matches where he has 28 wickets to his name.

Cummins will become a father soon and will be unavailable for the second phase of the tournament. As several overseas players left IPL 2021 midway due to covid concerns, Cummins not only decided to stay back in India but also donated $50, 000 in India’s fight against the pandemic.

In IPL 2021, Cummins played seven matches for KKR and picked 11 wickets. He was also a handy batsman lower down the order and scored 93 runs which included an unbeaten 66-run knock against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium.

KKR have plenty to do in the remaining matches as they are currently languishing at the seventh spot with just two wins from seven matches. Kolkata Knight Riders will kick off their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 20.