Sunrisers Hyderabad could undergo a significant change in their leadership group ahead of the upcoming IPL season by appointing Australia's Pat Cummins as their new captain, Cricbuzz reported on Saturday.
This move follows their disappointing performance in the last season under Aiden Markram's captaincy.
In the IPL 2024 Players' auction, SRH made a substantial investment, securing Cummins for a staggering INR 20.5 crore, making him the second most expensive player in the league's history.
The decision to sign the Australian ODI World Cup-winning captain was driven by determination, with Daniel Vettori, the new head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, playing a key role in the decision-making process.
Vettori, who works with Cummins in international cricket, is reportedly instrumental in the franchise considering Cummins as the new captain, and an official announcement is anticipated in the coming days.
After a disappointing performance last season, where SRH finished at the bottom of the points table with just four wins out of 14 matches, the franchise has already made a significant change by parting ways with Brian Lara, their former head coach, and appointing Vettori in his place.
While Markram recently led Sunrisers Eastern Cape, a subsidiary of the franchise, to their second consecutive SA20 title, his leadership for Hyderabad has failed to leave a lasting impact.
On the contrary, Cummins, who led Australia to World Test Championship and ODI World Cup titles in 2023, has strengthened his reputation as a successful captain.
In addition to Cummins, SRH has also secured two more overseas players in Travis Head and Wanindu Hasaranga. The team management faces a challenging task in deciding the final four overseas options.
In related news, reports suggest that Dale Steyn, SRH's bowling coach, will miss the upcoming season as he has requested a break from his duties. However, there are expectations that he will rejoin the franchise in IPL 2025 if all goes well.
Steyn was appointed as SRH's bowling coach in IPL 2022, contributing to the development of several young talents in the squad, including Umran Malik, T Natarajan, Marco Jansen, Kartik Tyagi, and others.
SRH IPL 2024 Squad: Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav, Umran Malik, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan.
- Pat Cummins
