Even though Ben Cutting only played four games during the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, he will always remember that year because of his all-around heroics in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), which helped Sunrisers Hyderabad win their only trophy in the tournament's history.
Cutting, who took two wickets to help his club defeat RCB by eight runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium, became a cult figure among Sunrisers Hyderabad fans for his 39 runs off just 15 balls towards the end of the innings. However, he was viewed as a villain by the opposition supporters.
Nine years later, the 38-year-old is no longer involved in any elite cricket matches. However, the Aussie continues to receive messages on Instagram to play as a replacement for any squad against RCB.
"If I load up my private messages on Instagram now, there'll be 150 every day saying, 'Can you make yourself available for the IPL as a replacement player?' for any team that's coming up against RCB," Cutting told ESPNCricinfo ahead of RCB vs SRH clash in IPL 2025.
In the RCB vs SRH final clash in IPL 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a strong start thanks to David Warner, but a dramatic middle order collapse followed. Cutting came to the crease after the fourth wicket fell and with short partnerships with players like Naman Ojha, Bipul Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, helped Sunrisers Hyderabad surpass 200 runs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad reached 208/7 in 20 overs thanks to Cutting's three sixes and a four off fellow countryman Shane Watson in the last over of the innings. Cutting reached his unbeaten score of 39 in just 15 balls, smashing three fours and four sixes.
With his right-arm medium pace, Cutting put an end to RCB's pursuit to IPL glory by dismissing a marauding Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. RCB have never made it to an IPL final since then.
Cutting played in just 21 IPL games throughout the course of five seasons as numerous injuries plagued his cricketing career. Cutting only managed to play four ODIs and seven T20Is for Australia.
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