Cummins and Starc: Showmen of different stripes reunite at IPL summit

It started with when he had to pose like royalty alongside Rohit Sharma with the World Cup trophy in the middle in the historic stepwells of Adalaj, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Then came the pre-wedding-like modelling session with West Indian counterpart Kraigg Brathwaite on the iconic hill at the Adelaide Oval, the two Test captains even flipping their sun-glasses like teenagers in love.

On Saturday (May 25), Pat Cummins was involved with his latest photoshoot, probably the most elaborate of them all. There he was on side-by-side with Shreyas Iyer and the IPL trophy next to a merry-go-round at Marina Beach. Before standing proudly with his arm over an auto-rickshaw like he was Rajnikanth reprising his Autokaran role while Iyer watched on from the front-seat. To Cummins' credit, he's somehow managed to make all of them poses work. Very matter-of-factly and without any fuss. And his run as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain in 2024 has been a whirlwind ride both on and off the field as he's gone about winning over the people and fans of Hyderabad with equally matter-of-fact precision and lack of fuss.

Mitchell Starc is not one for much posing. Though as much a professional as his fellow Australian fast bowler when it comes to his on-field performances, the left-arm quick has never been the most natural at putting himself in more unnatural settings off the field for promotional purposes. Not being captain surely has helped with avoiding the constant limelight away from the cricket field unlike what Cummins has to deal with.

But there was no way the 34-year-old was going to get away with not having the spotlight shone on him the brightest on the field, especially after his