Kolkata Knight Riders did not have a good start to their Indian Premier League 2020 campaign on Wednesday. The 2-time champions lost their opening match of the season by 49 runs to defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The bowlers were taken to cleaners by Rohit Sharma and Co. with record signing Pat Cummins being the most expensive bowler.

The Australian pacer was signed by KKR in the 2019 IPL auctions for a mammoth fee of Rs 15.5 crores. But his first match for KKR did not turn out too well as he ended up conceding 49 runs in four overs. He has come in for a lot of criticism due to the big price tag and his subdued debut for the Kolkata-based side.

But KKR captain Dinesh Karthik has come out to defend him. Karthik has backed Pat Cummins, who failed to impress with the ball against Mumbai Indians, saying that the pacer is a “world champion” and will make a comeback. Karthik also revealed that Cummins received permission to play hours before the match started and said judging the player after the first game’s performance will be “unfair”.

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“It is very unfair to judge him right now, he is just off quarantine and he got permission at 3:34 to play the match. We are happy to have him and I do not think this is the game where we need to judge him at all. He is a world champion bowler. I trust him completely and I am sure he will make a good comeback,” Karthik said in the post-match press conference.

The Australian pacer, Cummins, gave away 49 runs from just three overs in the match as Mumbai Indians posted a target of 196 runs for the Karthik-led side.

Mumbai Indians then easily defended the target, securing a 49-run victory in the match. Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma was at his devastating best as he played a knock of 80 runs from just 54 balls.

Reflecting on the batting order that KKR will be following in the upcoming matches, Karthik said: “It all depends on the game and the score that we are chasing and what we are doing at any point of time.”

(with ANI inputs)