With less than three weeks to go for the IPL 2024, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) replaced Aiden Markram as their captain with Australian Pat Cummins.
This has been a huge topic of discussion and debate among fans and experts. Most of them feel that SRH have made a bad call based on the facts and stats of Cummins as a T20 bowler, especially his ordinary show in the IPL.
However, it feels that SRH are banking on the leadership and Australian mentality of Pat Cummins that brought him the WTC mace, the Ashes, and the World Cup trophy last year.
Some fans and cricketers-turned-commentators feel that Aiden Markram has been hard done by in this situation, despite his success in the SA20 league.
Former India opener and now a senior commentator Aakash Chopra has sympathized with Aiden Markram, who has faced the sack as SRH’s captain even though he led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC), which is SRH’s sister franchise, to two consecutive SA20 league titles. In two SA20 seasons, SEC have won 15 matches and lost only 7, including two clinical performances in the finals.
Aiden Markram was confused last season as SRH captain
Aakash Chopra has given his opinion that the management of SRH last season in IPL 2023 made Aiden Markram confused about certain things. For example, Umran Malik missed some games, and there wasn’t any proper clarification on whether he was dropped or injured.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “There is a player named Aiden Markram who benefitted the SunRisers franchise a lot. He made the SunRisers Eastern Cape the champions for two successive years in the SA20 league. However, he has been removed from the captaincy here. He captained one year in total where I felt there was a lot of confusion.”
“He didn’t know what was happening. He was asked at times where Umran Malik was and he replied he wasn’t aware and that the person who made the team should be asked about it. That is where he was but he has been sidelined now.”
Now that Aiden Markram is not the captain, he may not even have a place in SRH’s XI. SRH boasts of some of the best overseas stars in the world. Apart from Cummins, they will pick three between Markram, Glenn Phillips, Marco Jansen, Wanindu Hasaranga, Heinrich Klaasen and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
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