Sunrisers Hyderabad’s decision to appoint Pat Cummins as captain for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) has not impressed Aakash Chopra. The Hyderabad-based team, on Monday (March 4), confirmed that the Australian star would lead the team in the upcoming season.
Pat Cummins replaced Aiden Markram as team captain after SRH’s disastrous IPL 2023 campaign. The 2016 IPL winners struggled during the last season and finished at the bottom of the points table after managing to win just 4 of their 14 league games.
The responsibility will now fall to Pat Cummins to transform the of the team fortunes. While time will tell how the Australia captain performs as SRH captain, his appointment has not impressed Aakash Chopra. In a video published on his Youtube channelThe former India opener began by stating that the Australian has not done well in the IPL of late.
Aakash Chopra questions Pat Cummins’ appointment:
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Pat Cummins does not bowl in either the powerplay or the death overs and also does not contribute consistently with the bat.
With only four abroad players allowed in the playing XI, the former cricketer-turned-commentator said that Cummins was not even guaranteed a place in the playing XI in the last few seasons of the IPL. He also cited it as one of the reasons why the pacer did not captain Australia T20 despite leading the team in the other two formats.
“You have named Pat Cummins captain, but have you seen his recent IPL numbers? Look closely, he gives up a lot of runs and doesn’t score as many runs with the bat. Only four foreign players play. He doesn’t bowl either in the powerplay or at the death.” Aakash Chopra said.
“If he is not going to do all those jobs, you are spending 25% of your overseas resources on a player whose place in the XI was not 100% guaranteed in the IPL. That is why Pat Cummins is not the captain of the team where 11 Australians play, although he won the World Cup, but not the T20.” he added.
Meanwhile, IPL 2024 is scheduled to be played from March 22. Reigning champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns in the tournament opener. Sunrisers Hyderabad will open their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 23.