'When it comes to T20 leadership, there's nothing' - Irfan Pathan questions SRH for appointing Pat Cummins as new skipper

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) announced a change in captaincy ahead of IPL (Indian Premier League) 2024 as they replaced Aiden Markram with Australian skipper Pat Cummins for the 17th edition of the tournament. Notably, SRH broke the bank and went all-out to have Cummins on-board as they bought him for a whopping INR 20.5 crore, making him the second-most expensive player in the history of the tournament after his Aussie teammate Mitchell Starc, who was acquired by KKR for a monumental amount of INR 24.75 crore.

However, SRH’s move hasn’t gone down well with the former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who questioned their thought process. Pathan stated that Cummins doesn’t have good credentials to be a T20 leader, nor does he have a good track record in the IPL.

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"When you talk about leadership, you wouldn't want to think beyond Cummins ideally. Australia just won the World Cup under him, he's performed really well in the last one and a half years. But the problem is that Cummins will look nice overall. However, when it comes to T20 leadership, there's nothing. His performance isn't the greatest in T20 cricket and his IPL numbers aren't decent either," Pathan said on Star Sports.

Notably, Cummins has 45 wickets to his name in 42 matches played in his IPL career at an average of 30.16 and an economy of 8.54. He further has 379 runs to his name from 42 matches at a strike rate of 152.21 with three half-centuries.

Further speaking ahead, Pathan questioned the SRH management for removing Aiden Markram after just one bad season, emphasizing the need for backing captains after they've encountered a rough patch.

“So there will be a challenge. What is SRH thinking? They've made a big move here. If Cummins is made captain, what about Markram? You gave him captaincy just for one year, so wouldn't you want to back him? That is a big question,” he added.

SRH finished last in IPL 2023

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SRH finished on the last spot on the points table in the 2023 edition with just 4 wins from 14 matches, having eight points to their name. They further reinforced their squad ahead of the next season by buying star players such as Australian southpaw Travis Head for INR 6.8 crore and Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga for INR 1.5 crore.

Meanwhile, SRH will start their campaign in IPL 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 23 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.