Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has opened up about the captaincy debate at SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). SRH, led by South African batsman Aiden Markram, finished bottom of the points table last season with just four wins from 14 matches. Earlier this month, Markram led SRH's sister franchise SunRisers Eastern Cape to back-to-back SA20 league titles. However, SRH splashed Rs 20.5 crore on Australia's World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins during the IPL 2024 Players Auction.
Cummins was the most expensive purchase at the time before Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc at the same auction for Rs 24.75.
Cummins could replace Markram for the SRH captaincy considering the amount of money the franchise has given him. However, the 2016 champions have yet to make an official announcement on the matter.
However, Gavaskar is confident that Cummins will most likely lead the team in place of Markram.
“So with Pat Cummins coming in, I'm pretty sure he will captain the team and that will make a huge difference,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Gavaskar highlighted Cummins' leadership qualities, which he said SRH lacked in the previous season of IPL.
“I think Pat Cummins was a smart buy, maybe a bit overpriced. Smart buy because he will bring the leadership aspect to their team which was missing last time. Last time some of the bowling changes we saw in crucial matches were just head-scratching, and that cost them games,” he added.
Cummins had a sensational year across all formats as he led Australia to the World Test Championship (WTC) title as well as the ODI World Cup, beating India in both finals.
Cummins reflected on a successful year for Australian cricket and expressed his gratitude for being recognized as the best of the best in 2023.
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