New Delhi: Aakash Chopra, a former Indian cricketer, expressed his reservations about the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s decision to appoint Pat Cummins as their captain for the upcoming IPL season after firing Aiden Markram from the role. He raised several concerns, highlighting Cummins’s lackluster IPL performance and limited role in the format.
Chopra pointed out that Cummins’s bowling numbers in the IPL haven’t been impressive, and he doesn’t contribute significantly with the bat either. He emphasized that with only four overseas players allowed per team, SRH is investing a significant portion of their resources (25%) on a player who doesn’t even guarantee a spot in the starting lineup consistently.
“You have appointed Pat Cummins as the captain, but have you taken a closer look at his recent IPL performance? He has been conceding a lot of runs and hasn’t been scoring many runs with the bat. Also, keep in mind that only four overseas players are allowed to play. Cummins doesn’t bowl in the powerplay or at the death, which makes his contribution limited in those crucial moments.”
Furthermore, Chopra questioned the strategic rationale behind the decision, as Cummins doesn’t lead the Australian T20 team despite being their captain in Tests and ODIs. He suggested that SRH might have been influenced by “recency bias,” referring to Cummins’ recent success in captaining Australia to victory in the ODI World Cup final against India.
The presence of Daniel Vettori, the SRH head coach, who has experience working with Cummins in the New Zealand national team, might have also played a role in the decision, according to Chopra.
“According to Chopra, if a player is not going to perform all the duties required of him, then it doesn’t make sense to spend 25% of your overseas resources on him. This is especially true when the player’s place in the team is not guaranteed. This is why Pat Cummins is not the captain of the team that has 11 Australians playing, even though he has won the World Cup but not T20.”
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