Sunrisers Hyderabad announced Pat Cummins as captain after buying the Australian for INR 20.5 crore in the auction in Dubai.
Pat Cummins was announced as the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), replacing Aiden Markram.
It will be the first time Cummins will be captaining a side in the IPL and reunites with Daniel Vettori, the new SRH head coach who also works as an assistant coach for Australia.
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SRH took to social media to make the announcement.
Cummins was bought by SRH for INR 20.5 crore at the IPL auction in Dubai last year. He also becomes the second Australian to be SRH’s captain after fellow country-mate David Warner, who led the franchise in 67 matches from 2015 to 2021.
He made his IPL debut in 2014 for KKR but played just one match that season. He had a stint with Delhi Daredevils in 2017 and opted out of the IPL for a few years. He returned to KKR as the costliest player of IPL 2020 auction with a whopping price tag of Rs 15.50 crore.
He was with KKR till 2022 and withdrew from IPL 2023 to focus on international cricket. Cummins has previously been a part of Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
The Australian had won the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) and Men’s ODI World Cup as captain. SRH were captained by Aiden Markram in the previous two seasons but didn’t gain any significant success. Markram, though, successfully led SunRisers Eastern Cape, a sister team of the SRH franchise to the trophy in the first two seasons of the SA20.
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Last season in 2023, Aiden Markram was the SRH captain but the Hyderabad-based franchise had a poor outing,
finishing last with only four wins in 14 league games. Markram also led sister franchise Sunrisers Eastern Cape to back-to-back titles in SA20. Markram remains in the SRH squad for the upcoming season.
Besides the captaincy change, SRH had also named a new head coach ahead of the 2024 IPL season, with former New Zealand left-arm spinner and captain Daniel Vettori taking over from Brian Lara.
Former New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin will take over as SRH bowling coach in place of South African Dale Steyn.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL 2016 winners, will open their 2024 campaign on March 23 against two-time winner Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, followed by their first home match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on March 27 against five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
(With inputs from Agencies)
