Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer analysed the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He believes that the team management might do a captaincy shift and give the baton to Pat Cummins for the next season.
If there was any team who completely nailed the IPL 2024 auction, it was Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They ticked in almost every box and bought some quality players into the team. They had a torrid time in the league last year but this time around they will be hot favourites, especially with the kind of players they have picked.
Sunrisers Hyderabad first brought Travis Head in the auction for INR 6.8 crore and after that, they sealed Wanindu Hasaranga for INR 1.5 crore, which was a steal of the auction. They then hogged the headlines after they acquired the services of Pat Cummins for INR 20.5 crore, which was the second-highest bid in the auction.
SRH went berserk for Pat Cummins and they were quite adamant to pick him. But with now World Cup-winning skipper in the team, it remains to be seen if they make him captain of the team or not. Currently, Aiden Markram is the captain of the team. He was appointed last year but didn’t have a fruitful time.
Under Aiden Markram, SRH won only 4 games in the tournament. With the kind of history, they have in changing the captains and the players, it won’t be a surprise if Pat Cummins will be announced as their captain for the next edition of the league.
Wasim Jaffer, during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo, highlighted the issues SRH will be facing ahead of the league. He added that the team did a great job in strengthening their spin-bowling attack. He explained:
“1,2,3 pick themselves. So now Travis Head comes and it’s kind of a confusion about who captains the side. If Aiden Markram is the captain then who plays, will Pat Cummins play or Hasaranga? That’s another question. They needed to strengthen their spin-bowling attack, which they did, with Indian as well as overseas players.”
IPL 2024: You might see Pat Cummins become captain – Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer further added that Sunrisers Hyderabad might make Pat Cummins captain. But he highlighted that the fast bowler doesn’t have experience of leading in this format. He also lauded the team for the terrific job they did in the auction. He added:
“We might see a captaincy shift in this franchise. You might see Pat Cummins become captain. Again the experience he has of captaining in this format is very little. He’s captained in Tests and ODIs but he hasn’t captained in this format. That’s going to be a challenge but I think they’ve put together a good side.”
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 remaining purse of INR 3.2 crore and can trade some players. The trade window opened once again after the IPL 2024 auction. It remains to be seen if any trade happens now or not.
