SunRisers Hyderabad have officially unveiled Pat Cummins as their new captain ahead of IPL 2024, replacing Aiden Markram, as the earlier reports suggested. The right-arm speedster was amongst the most expensive players in the IPL 2024 auction, fetching ₹20.50 crore, breaking Sam Curran's record of 18.50.
The 30-year-old had a dream 2023 as skipper. While Cummins' mother passed away due to which he had to opt out of the India Test tour midway early in 2023, the right-arm speedster was unstoppable in the following months. The New South Wales fast bowler started by winning the World Test Championship (WTC) in June when India beat Australia by 209 runs at The Oval in London.
Cummins went on to make Australia retain the Ashes on single soil for the 2nd consecutive time. However, the pinnacle of the year was when Australia lifted their 6th 50-over World Cup by beating India at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The captain led from the front in the decider, picking up figures of 10-0-34-2, dismissing Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer during the spell.
Markram, meanwhile, took charge during the 2023 edition, but has managed to script only 4 wins from 13 matches. The South African leading the SunRisers Eastern Cape to back-to-back titles hasn't been enough to retain the captaincy ahead of IPL 2024.
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"India is like a second home" - Pat Cummins
Cummins, who has plied his trade for Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils before, referred to India as their 2nd home, given the support almost everyone receives. Speaking to Star Sports, he stated:
"India is like a second home. We spend so much time here. IPL you've got your home teams. So you actually feel like you've got plenty of fans Or, you know, at least cricket fans that have, you know, supported you or, you know, lots of people come up to me and say, Oh, I'm from Kolkata or I go for KKR. So it's nice feeling like not everyone's against you."
The Orange Army will open their campaign against KKR at the Eden Gardens on March 23rd.
