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Sunil Gavaskar has backed Pat Cummins to lead SRH, instead of Aiden Markram.© BCCI
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has opened up on the captaincy debate at SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. SRH, under the leadership of South African batsman Aiden Markram, finished last in the points table last season with just four wins in 14 matches. Earlier this month, Markram captained SRH’s sister franchise, SunRisers Eastern Cape, to back-to-back SA20 league titles. However, SRH spent Rs 20.5 crore on World Cup-winning Australian captain Pat Cummins during the IPL 2024 player auction.
Cummins was the most expensive buy at the time before Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc for Rs 24.75 in the same auction.
Cummins could replace Markram for the SRH captaincy, considering the amount of money the franchise devoted to him. However, the 2016 champions are yet to make an official announcement regarding this.
Gavaskar, however, is sure that Cummins will most likely lead the team instead of Markram.
“So now with the arrival of Pat Cummins, I am quite sure that he will be the captain of the team and that will make a big difference,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar highlighted Cummins’ leadership qualities, which he believes were lacking at SRH in the previous IPL season.
“I think Pat Cummins was a smart buy, maybe a little expensive. Smart buy because he will bring the leadership aspect to his team, which was missing last time. Last time, some of the bowling changes we saw in crucial matches “They were simply disconcerting 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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