Aakash Chopra has expressed scepticism over Sunrisers Hyderabad’s choice of Pat Cummins as captain for IPL 2024. The franchise acquired Cummins for a staggering 20.50 crore at last year’s auction. He highlighted the Australia captain’s lacklustre IPL track record, and cited his underwhelming performances with both the new ball and during death overs. He also questioned Cummins’ potency in the T20 format.
The former Indian cricketer remarked that World Cup-winning captain lacks certainty in securing a spot in the playing XI and doesn’t lead Australia in T20s. He attributed the Australia pacer’s appointment as Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper to recent events, noting his pivotal role in the ODI World Cup final against India. With Daniel Vettori as SRH head coach, Cummins might have gained favour. Chopra hinted at possible recency bias in captain’s selection, despite his uncertainties in T20 cricket.
“You have made Pat Cummins the captain but have you seen his recent IPL numbers? Check attentively, he concedes a lot of runs and doesn’t score that many runs with the bat. Only four overseas players play. He neither bowls in the powerplay nor at the death,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“If he is not going to do all those jobs, you are spending 25% of your overseas resources on a player whose place in the XI was not 100% guaranteed in the IPL. That is why Pat Cummins is not the captain of the team where 11 Australians play, although he has won the World Cup, but not T20,” he added.
Markram made Sunrisers Eastern Cape champions for two successive years: Chopra
The cricketer turned commentator highlighted the removal of Aiden Markram as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captain following a single poor season, despite his consistent leadership for the sister franchise. He doubted Markram’s place in the SRH XI due to a surplus of overseas options. He even suggested Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen as probable selections, given Cummins’ captaincy.
“There is a player named Aiden Markram who benefitted the SunRisers franchise a lot. He made the SunRisers Eastern Cape the champions for two successive years in the SA20 league. However, he has been removed from the captaincy here. He captained one year in total where I felt there was a lot of confusion,” he concluded.
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