Pat Cummins Named as Sunrisers Hyderabad Captain

Pat Cummins will now have an opportunity to add the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy to his illustrious resume. On Monday, Sunrisers Hyderabad announced that the Australian will captain the team for the IPL 2024 season. Cummins captained Australia to victory in the World Test Championship in June 2023, then managed to retain the Ashes in England and later lead them to the ICC ODI World Cup title win in India and against India. Aiden Markram, who had led the previous champions to the bottom of the 2023 points table, was replaced by Cummins.

Cummins was signed by SRH in December at the mini-auction in Dubai for a record INR 20.50 crore. Cummins had taken a year off from the IPL to prepare for the ODI World Cup last year. The Australian all-rounder became the first player in IPL history to fetch more than INR 20 crore in an auction, but his record as the most expensive player in history was broken in less than an hour when Mitchell Starc, another Australian cricketer, was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for an incredible INR 24.75 crore.

The Glorious Captain - Pat Cummins

Cummins will play in the IPL for the eighth time in 2024. He was formerly a member of the KKR team, which paid an astounding 15.50 crores to acquire him—the highest price paid at the 2020 Indian Premier League auction. Cummins, while smashing the fastest fifty-run in IPL history at the time with 14 balls, did not, however, stand up to the expectations associated with the price tag, particularly with the ball. In 2022, he made his final IPL appearance, appearing in five matches, taking seven wickets and only managing 63 runs.

In addition, this will be his first season as an IPL captain, with SRH taking the huge decision following Cummins' incredible run of success in all forms as a captain and cricketer. He has successfully defended the Ashes, won two ICC trophies, one against India, and been awarded the captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year in the past nine months. He ultimately won the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year in 2023 as a result of his outstanding performance.

It was tough to remove Aiden Markram as a Captain -

In the meantime, SRH's decision to remove Markram from captain was a harsh jab at the player who helped Sunrisers Eastern Cape, their subsidiary team, win back-to-back SA20 league championships. However, the choice only made sense following the conclusion of SRH's 2023 campaign, in which they won only four of their 14 games.