Pat Cummins will experience something new on Saturday, March 23, in his nearly 13-year career at the highest level. Cummins will lead Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Kolkata Knight Riders in their debut IPL 2024 match as captain of any T20 team. Following a successful 2023 in which he guided Australia to the 50-over World Cup championship and the World Test Championship, Cummins was the beneficiary of a winning bid of INR 20.50 crores at the most recent auction.
Because of his excellent stats, the Sunrisers were compelled to spend big money on the Australian lucky charm after finishing in the second-last spot in two IPL seasons. But Cummins has a more difficult assignment ahead of him. On the eve of the match at Eden Gardens.
"It has its challenges." You play 14 games in six-seven weeks, including the finals, in that. Four overs isn't as stressful on your body; I play a lot of Test cricket. But the trip, which is obviously in a foreign nation, and having to prepare for a new squad every few days may be emotionally exhausting.
~Cummins stated
But it's nothing new, we've done it before. The game day is the most important. That's what we put most days into. No teams play the same XI for all 14 games. I am sure we've got to call on our squad and we're lucky we've got a young, fit squad. I think it's been a part of the IPL, you have expectations, you have a lot of fans who demand a lot out of the team, and they want results. Yeah, being captain is probably a little bit more [of responsibility]. But it's not much different from what we're used to as players. We'll give it our best."
Travis Head, a major player in the final of those two title victories, will be Cummins' teammate on the SRH squad. However, it will take some work to manage the remaining ones, including their roles and responsibilities in this configuration.
"The biggest difference is that you know your teammates well playing for Australia. There are a lot of things that don't need to be said because I have played with Josh Hazlewood and Starc for 15 years. So there's a real kind of trust and you just don't need to say much, everything kind of runs by itself," Cummins said.
"I think here, learning [about] some new players, that's going to be the biggest difference, and just learning those different roles within the team. I know a few of the other guys, obviously, and have done a bit of homework to try and get the best out of the guys. But that's probably going to be the biggest difference."
Mitchell Starc, who is playing in his first IPL match in nine years, will also be a familiar face in the opposition camp on Saturday. In actuality, KKR signed Starc for an IPL record INR 24.75 crores. It would be strange, Cummins acknowledged, to watch his fast bowling companion in the "other dugout."
"It's funny... it's one of the beauties of the IPL; I have been playing with Starcy for 15 years, [and] I can't remember another game where I have played against him. Also, it will be weird looking across and seeing him in the other dugout.
"Yeah, being an opposition captain, seeing how we play him will be an interesting part of tomorrow. But we're both bowlers, so I am not sure we'll cross [paths] too much."
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