The shifts in captaincy and coaching department at the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) continue and this has prompted veteran cricket commentator Aakash Chopra to give the franchise a new or a second name.
Ahead of the IPL 2024, SRH have named Australian Pat Cummins as their new skipper, replacing Aiden Markram, who led them in IPL 2023 and couldn’t take them to the playoffs.
However, Markram has proved his worth as a T20 skipper by marching the Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC), SRH’s sister franchise, to two consecutive SA20 titles. On the other hand, Pat Cummins has proven himself as an ODI and Test captain but is untested as a T20 captain; many believe he is not even fitting into the best XI of Australia and SRH.
Cummins as a T20 bowler is a far inferior to his skillset and experience in the other two formats. But SRH went out all guns and spent INR 20.5 crore on the Aussie superstar. Perhaps this also made them feel that Cummins should be in the starting XI, and the only way to ensure that is to make him the skipper!
SRH’s second name has become change: Aakash Chopra
Before Markram and Cummins, SRH were led by Kane Williamson and David Warner in 2022 and 2021 respectively. Not only this, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have also had frequent changes in their head coach position.
All this has left the fans and ex-cricketers puzzled and unimpressed, leading Aakash Chopra to give ‘change’ as SRH’s second name.
Chopra said in his YouTube video, “Sunrisers Hyderabad’s story is very interesting. They have played with a different coach and a different captain for four consecutive years. 2021 – David Warner and Trevor Bayliss, 2022 – Kane Williamson and Tom Moody, 2023 – Aiden Markram and Brian Lara, 2024 – Pat Cummins and Daniel Vettori.”
“Someone said change is the only constant but here Sunrisers Hyderabad’s second name has become change. They believe a lot in changing everything. So they are trying to move forward with a new captain and coach combination for a fourth consecutive year,” the commentator added.
Other than Cummins, SRH will have to pick three overseas players between Markram, Glenn Phillips, Marco Jansen, Wanindu Hasaranga, Heinrich Klaasen and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
SRH will kick start their IPL 2024 campaign on March 23 against KKR at the Eden Gardens.
Also read: SWOT Analysis Of KKR For IPL 2024
