IPL 2024: R Ashwin on SRH Captaincy Change Ahead of IPL 2024

R Ashwin on SRH Captaincy Change Ahead of IPL 2024: Ravichandran Ashwin, an off-spinner for India, has voiced his “shock” at SunRisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) choice to choose Pat Cummins captain.

Even though South African batter Aiden Markram led SunRisers Eastern Cape (SEC), SRH’s sister team, to consecutive SA20 league titles, the team fired Markram after just one season. After agreeing to pay INR 20.50 crore to acquire Cummins, SRH said that the captain of Australia, who won the World Cup, will guide the team in the 2024 Indian Premier League.

Read More | IPL 2024: Virat Kohli Gets a new hairstyle before IPL 2024

Ashwin said that, given what Markram accomplished with SEC in the SA20 league, he didn’t see the transfer coming.

“SunRisers have hit two titles back to back at the SA20. They’ve done it with two extraordinary teams. I was quite shocked, actually. They have made Pat Cummins the captain. I was having a small hunch that they would go with Markram. Markram had an extraordinary season for his franchise in the SA20. The cross-pollination would have been amazing,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Read More | IPL 2024: Royal Challengers Bangalore get New Name Ahead of IPL 2024

Although Ashwin acknowledged that Cummins “is a no-brainer” for their overseas combo, he also hinted that the team may “have a problem of plenty” in the leadership area.

“Pat Cummins is a no-brainer. But with Cummins as a captain, they will have a problem of plenty in the team with so many stars. Keeping Travis Head as backup, they would go for Markram, Pat Cummins, (Heinrich) Klaasen, and (Wanindu) Hasaranga. Because Hasaranga is a crucial facet for them. If they decide Hasaranga is not needed, in some venues they can play (Fazalhaq) Farooqi or Marco Jansen instead of him. This is what I thought because it makes sense,” he added.

Cummins, who has never led a T20 cricket club, stated that SRH is anticipating a “aggressive” start to the following season ahead of IPL 2024.

Read More | Pakistan Smoking League: Video Of Imad Wasim During PSL Final Triggers Severe Backlash

“So, a bit of planning to go and then just wanna get off to a really good start. T20s are hard. Kolkata’s a good team, but I think just wanna see a really aggressive, start to the season,” Cummins said.

He added that they have an “exciting” young talent in their squad. The 30-year-old added that he is “super excited” to play with young talents.

“I think we’ve got a great mix. We’ve got a couple more experienced guys like Bhuvi. Obviously Aiden Markram captain last year. But we’ve got some exciting young talent. I’m super excited to see guys like Abhishek, Umran Malik, these kind of guys I’ve only seen a little bit of but super excited, so I think fans should be pretty pumped for the season ahead,” he added.

Source Link