“I was quite shocked” – Ravichandran Ashwin on Pat Cummins replacing Aiden Markram as SRH captain for IPL 2024

India’s veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared his surprise on Pat Cummins taking the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captaincy baton from Aiden Markram. The South African was backed as a leader for only one season.

Meanwhile, Aiden Markram led the sister franchise, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, to back-to-back titles in SA20 but has been sacked as a leader.

SRH decided to appoint Pat Cummins, who was bought for a whopping INR 20.50 crores in the IPL 2024 auction, as Orange Army’s captain for the forthcoming season, which surprised a lot of cricket pundits.

Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “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.”

While picking Hyderabad’s four overseas players, Ashwin feels the franchise have complicated their selection after appointing Cummins as captain.

“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.”

However, Ashwin feels Pat Cummins’ bowling will suit SRH in the upcoming season as the Australian can make great use of his slower balls.

“Pat Cummins’ cutters: I feel Pat Cummins’ bowling will suit SRH. Even last year, the spongy bounce was there. Slower cutters will come into play. Hasaranga, Washi, and Shahbaz Ahmed are also there; I thought they would have an easy task-setting combination.”

Ashwin reckons SRH could be a force to reckon with if the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Marco Jansen deliver consistent performances.

“If among Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Marco Jansen, even if two of them play a stable 300-400 run game, the team will easily go ahead. Klaasen has been playing brilliantly in T20 cricket, and Markram will off-spin an over. He is a good finisher with big power shots,” he remarked.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on March 23.

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