It has now been confirmed that Australia’s captain Pat Cummins will be the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2024 season of the IPL which will begin later this month. It has come as good news for the fans of SRH but whether the highly successful leader of the Australian team can also work wonders for the Hyderabad IPL outfit remains to be seen.
Pat Cummins is considered to be one of the finest fast bowlers of the present times. He has led Australia to victories in the last ICC World Test championship and the 2023 ICC World Cup. As a captain he has overcome adversity and shown that he is a wonderful team leader.
He was also a member of the Australian team that won the ICC World Cup in 2015 and the T20 World Cup in 2021 before being appointed captain of Australia. He made his Test and ODI debuts way back in 2011. So he has enough experience under his belt.
Success as Australia’s captain
As captain, he took seven wickets in his first Test match in the 2021-22 Ashes series. Cummins ended up as the leading wicket-taker for the Ashes series, with 21 wickets in 4 matches and under his leadership, Australia defeated England 4–0. So he has had a brilliant record.
But some former players and commentators have expressed doubts about his ability in the T20 format of the game. It is true that his record in the T20 format has not been as spectacular as it has been in Test cricket. Cummins has played 52 T20 internationals; he has taken a total of 57 wickets with a best haul of three for 15. It can be termed a modest success.
When Cummins played for Kolkata Knight Riders, he conceded 9.62 runs in 12 games. He gave away 8.50 runs or more an over on eight occasions and while he picked up 16 wickets, he proved to be quite expensive.
Irfan Pathan expresses doubts
Former star bowler Irfan Pathan is skeptical about the choice made by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Irfan Pathan said recently: “When you talk about leadership, you wouldn’t want to think beyond Cummins. Australia has won the World Cup under him; he’s performed well in the last one and a half years. But when it comes to T20 leadership, there’s nothing. His performance isn’t the greatest in T20 cricket and his IPL numbers are not decent either,” Pathan said while speaking on Star Sports.
Cummins’ IPL record
Cummins played in 37 IPL matches from 2014 to 2021, taking 38 wickets. In the IPL season of 2021 he played in seven matches and took nine wickets. In the next season Cummins tied the record for fastest half-century in the IPL when he scored 50 runs in 14 balls. But in 2023 he pulled out of the IPL because he wanted to focus on playing for Australia.
In 2024 Cummins appeared in the IPL auction and was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping 20.5 crore rupees (3.7 million in Australian currency). Now will he be able to justify the huge paycheck that Sunrisers has handed to him?
There is no doubt that Cummins, with all his experience and skill, will try very hard. He has the talent, the determination, and the right amount of cricketing knowledge. Now he must try to get the Sunrisers team to work together like a well-oiled machine. If Cummins succeeds in achieving his objective, then Sunrisers may advance considerably in the coming IPL tournament.
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