Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer analyzed the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He believes that the team management could make a change in captaincy and hand over the baton to Pat Cummins for the next season.
If there was one team that totally got it right in the IPL 2024 auction, it was Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They ticked almost all the boxes and bought some quality players for the team. Last year they had a bad time in the league, but this time they will be big favorites, especially because of the type of players they have chosen.
Sunrisers Hyderabad first brought Travis Head to the auction for INR 6.8 crore and then sealed Wanindu Hasaranga for INR 1.5 crore which was a steal of the auction. They then made headlines after acquiring the services of Pat Cummins for Rs 20.5 million, which was the second highest bid in the auction.
SRH went crazy for Pat Cummins and were pretty adamant about picking him. But now that the World Cup winning captain is in the team, it remains to be seen whether he will be named team captain or not. Currently, Aiden Markram is the captain of the team. He was appointed last year but did not have a fruitful period.
Under Aiden Markram, SRH won only 4 games in the tournament. With the kind of history they have in changing captains and players, it won’t be a surprise if Pat Cummins is announced as their captain for the next edition of the league.
Wasim Jaffer, during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo, highlighted the problems that SRH will face ahead of the league. He added that the team did a great job strengthening their spin bowling attack. He explained:
“1,2,3 they choose themselves. Now Travis Head comes in and there’s some sort of confusion about who’s captaining the team. If Aiden Markram is the captain, who will play? Will Pat Cummins or Hasaranga play? That’s another question. They needed to strengthen their spin bowling attack, and they did, with both Indian and foreign players.”
IPL 2024: You may see Pat Cummins become captain – Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer further added that Sunrisers Hyderabad could make Pat Cummins captain. But he highlighted that the fast bowler has no experience of leading in this format. He also praised the team for the fantastic job they did on the auction. He added:
“We could see a change of captaincy in this franchise. You might see Pat Cummins become captain. Again, the experience he has of captaining in this format is very little. He has been captain in Tests and ODIs, but he has not been captain in this format. “It’s going to be a challenge, but I think they’ve made a good team.”
Apart from buying Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga and Pat Cummins, SRH bought the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh and Jhathavedh Subramanyan. They still have a purse of INR 3.2 crore left and can trade some players. The trade window has opened once again after the IPL 2024 auction. It remains to be seen if any trade happens now or not.