Pat Cummins gives farewell speech to KKR players as he exits IPL 2022 due to injury; WATCH

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are set to suffer a massive blow as Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has officially been ruled out of the IPL 2022 tournament due to a minor hip injury. The news was confirmed by KKR's official social media handle, who also put up a video of Cummins delivering a farewell speech to the rest of his teammates.

IPL 2022: Pat Cummins delivers farewell speech to KKR players

After KKR confirmed that Pat Cummins will miss the remainder of the IPL 2022 season, the team's official social media handle put out a video where his teammates can be seen bidding him farwell before the Australian player thanks everyone for their support. "I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone. It's great to be based out of the side similar to last year. It feels like you coming back home. Thanks for looking after the family and to everyone, players, staff, hotel staff. It's been a great 5-6 weeks. All the best for the last few games. I'll be cheering on. Hopefully, we make the finals too," said the 29-year old.

Pat Cummins' IPL 2022 stats

Pat Cummins only played five matches in the IPL 2022 season, in which he picked up seven wickets at a strike rate of 17.0 and a relatively disappointing economy of 10.69 as per his extremely high standards. Perhaps, the Australian star was more impressive with the bat as he smacked 63 runs, including a joint fastest fifty (14 balls) against the Mumbai Indians. While his average with the bat was a mere 15.75, he had an explosive strike rate of 262.50.

Pat Cummins to return to Sydney for rehabilitation

According to a report put out by cricket.com.au, Australian Test captain Pat Cummins will return to Sydney for his rehabilitation ahead of the national team's tour of Sri Lanka next month. Besides leading the Test side, Cummins is also a vital member of the ODI and T20 teams as Australia is set to embark on a hectic 18-month-long cricket calendar.

The Sri Lanka tour will be followed by Australia's T20 World Cup title defence at home, a five-Test home summer, a Test tour of India and an away Ashes campaign. The Aussies will then return to India for the ODI World Cup in October 2023.

(Inputs from PTI)