Sunrisers Hyderabad have named Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins as their new skipper for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, IPL 2024. He takes over from South Africa’s Aiden Markram.
His successful leadership for Australia in Tests and ODIs, where they clinched the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) and ICC World Cup last year, has evidently influenced the decision.
Cummins, 30, became the second most expensive player in IPL history when SRH acquired him for a staggering INR 20.50 crore. He led Australia to victory in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) and Men’s ODI World Cup.
Aiden Markram captained SRH in the last two seasons but failed to achieve significant success, with the team finishing at the bottom of the points table with just four wins in 14 games. Despite this, Markram led Sunrisers Eastern Cape, a sister team of the SRH franchise, to victory in the first two seasons of the SA20. However, Cummins’ international success has earned him the captaincy.
The right-arm seamer has appeared in 42 IPL matches, claiming 45 wickets at an average of over 30 and an economy rate of 8.54.
Cummins will team up with Daniel Vettori, who was appointed as SRH’s head coach last year. Their relationship dates back to Vettori’s involvement in the Australian support staff during the 2023 World Cup.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL 2016 champions, will kick off their 2024 campaign on March 23 against two-time winner Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.