"I am pretty certain that he will be the captain" - Sunil Gavaskar on SunRisers Hyderabad's acquisition of Pat Cummins for IPL 2024

Sunil Gavaskar reckons Pat Cummins will captain the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024).

SRH bought Cummins for a whopping ₹20.50 crore at the auction in December last year. Travis Head (₹6.80 crore) was their other expensive purchase at the auction.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar was asked about his thoughts on the SunRisers Hyderabad's acquisition of Pat Cummins. He responded:

"I think Pat Cummins was a smart buy, maybe a little over-expensive. Smart buy because he will bring the leadership aspect to their team, which was lacking the last time around."

Last time around, some of the bowling changes that we saw in crucial games were just head-scratching, and that cost them matches. So now with Pat Cummins coming in, I am pretty certain that he will be the captain of the team and that will make a huge difference," the former India captain added.

Gavaskar noted that apart from being a terrific bowler, Cummins can also contribute with the bat. He pointed out that the Australian Test and ODI skipper smoked a 14-ball half-century for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2022.

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"He is just the ideal No. 1 in a 20-overs game for the SunRisers Hyderabad" - Sunil Gavaskar on Travis Head

Travis Head smashed a match-winning hundred in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against India. [P/C: Getty]

Sunil Gavaskar was further asked about the SunRisers Hyderabad's acquisition of Travis Head. He replied:

"Travis Head is the kind of batter who can take the game away from you. He did that in the World Cup finals. He is just the ideal No. 1 in a 20-overs game for the SunRisers Hyderabad."

The cricketer-turned-commentator feels the Australian southpaw can form an exciting opening pair with either Mayank Agarwal or Rahul Tripathi.

"So, he and whoever opens with him, whether it's Mayank Agarwal or whether it's Rahul Tripathi, who started as an opener and then went in the middle, if he comes in the opening slot again, then it will be entertaining batting for sure," Gavaskar stated.

Agarwal and Tripathi endured underwhelming runs for SRH in IPL 2023, with both averaging in the 20s with strike rates in the 120s. The 2016 IPL champions have another opening option in Abhishek Sharma. The Punjab left-handed batter also had a below-par average of 20.55 last season but had a better strike of 143.94.