Cutting edge for Sunrisers

This year Cutting doesn’t have the numbers yet to boast of an award or a recognition, but he has been in the thick of things to turn the tide in Sunrisers way many a time. A case in point is when he shot into fame in the first match a couple of weeks ago against Royal Challengers Bangalore by catching Kedar Jadhav, who was going great guns at 31 off 16 balls, well short of the crease with an acrobatic effort in the deep to tilt the match in SRH’s favour. 

Playing in the shortest format has taught Cutting a lot. He has learnt to swim with the tide even though he couldn’t be backed by numbers. “This format (T20) is in general an exciting beast. I have learnt to take it with a pinch of salt. A player can bowl well but still end up giving 40 or 50 runs in his spell. And he can be in an excellent flow with the bat and still get a first ball duck. That’s the nature of 20-20,” Cutting said. 

The 30-year-old firmly believes that the ‘defending champions’ tag doesn’t add too much of a pressure. “Everyone likes to talk about what had happened last year (being crowned IPL champions), but for us as a team looking forward, last year was a previous season, it is over and this year is a whole new ball game. We started the tournament from zero and we have more games to go (should we need to replicate the success),” Cutting added. 

According to the Australian, he feels he is more used as a batsman than a bowler. “I would probably be more of a batsman than a bowler in the 20-20 format. I tend to bat most games and get to bowl two or three overs, sometimes four here and there. That’s the natural 20-20 brand I guess,” he said. 

Cutting felt his average of 20-odd with the bat and ball wasn’t good to stake claim for a berth in the Australian team and just like every cricketer’s focus would be, Cutting’s emphasis is on Sunrisers for now. “I really didn’t get a lot of opportunities (to play for Australia). I wasn’t too good with an average of 20. The strength of the guys playing in the domestic back home, there is always a tough competition. But now, my focus is just to keep doing what I am doing and perform the best with the bat and ball. It is SRH first and whatever comes later is a bonus,” Cutting noted. 

Emphasising on camaraderie in the team, Cutting said that was for fetching results. “It is very important to get along with each and everyone in the team, including the support staff. The way we are on and off the field goes a long way in getting into success as we play for each other,” he remarked.