New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have appointed Pat Cummins as captain ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
SRH were captained by Aiden Markram in the last two seasons, but didn’t taste any significant success, finishing at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2023, having just four wins from 14 matches. 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.
But Cummins had a magnificent 2023, which boosted his leadership credentials – winning the World Test Championship (WTC), retaining the Ashes in England and claiming a record ODI World Cup as captain of Australia.
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.
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.
In last year's IPL auction in Dubai, Cummins was roped in by the franchise for a whopping Rs 20.5 crore, making him the second-most expensive player in the history of the league. Cummins has previously been a part of Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL.
SRH, the IPL 2016 winners, will open its on March 23 against two-time champions KKR at the Eden Gardens, followed by their first home match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 27 against five-time champions Mumbai Indians.