IPL 2024: Australia's Pat Cummins appointed as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for upcoming season
Australian star cricketer Pat Cummins, who successfully led the winning side against India in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, was on Monday appointed as the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season.
FollowSunrisers Hyderabad on Monday named veteran Australian allrounder Pat Cummins as captain for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, sparking massive excitement among the Orange Army. Cummins' successful leadership for Australia in Tests and ODIs, including winning the World Test Championship (WTC) and ODI World Cup last year, seems to have influenced the decision.
SRH secured Cummins' services for a substantial amount of INR 20.5 crore after triumphing in the bidding war against MI, CSK, and RCB. It will be intriguing to see if the Australian ODI and Test captain can replicate his country's success in the IPL. KKR attempted a similar strategy with Eoin Morgan, and he helped them reach the final in IPL 2021.
The franchise confirmed the appointment via its official social media handles with a picture of Cummins captioned “#OrangeArmy! Our new skipper Pat Cummins.”
Aiden Markram served as the team's captain last year, but the team's failure to qualify for the playoffs, finishing last with only four wins in 14 matches, prompted a change.
Interestingly, Markram was appointed captain after leading the Sunrisers' franchise to victory in the inaugural edition of SA20. He also defended the title this year in the tournament, leading to expectations that the South African might retain his captaincy in the IPL. However, SRH swiftly moved on from him, pinning hopes on Cummins to lead them to their first trophy since 2016.
Regarding Cummins' IPL career, he has played 42 matches, claiming 45 wickets at an economy rate of 8.54. Cummins has also made an impact with the bat, scoring three fifties and amassing 379 runs at a strike-rate exceeding 150. His initial challenge awaits against his former team, Kolkata Knight Riders, as both teams commence their IPL 2024 campaign on March 23 at the Eden Gardens.
Apart from Cummins, SRH also boasts two other overseas talents - Australian star batter Travis Head and Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Significantly, the franchise has opted for a notable change by replacing West Indian great Brian Lara as head coach with New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori.
SRH squad for IPL 2024: Pat Cummins (C), Aiden Markram, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Heinrich Klaasen, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Upendra Yadav, Sanvir Singh, Mayank Markande, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan
