"He neither bowls in the powerplay nor at the death" - Aakash Chopra on Pat Cummins' appointment as SunRisers Hyderabad skipper for IPL 2024

Aakash Chopra isn't convinced about the SunRisers Hyderabad's decision to appoint Pat Cummins as their skipper for IPL 2024.

SRH bought Cummins for a whopping ₹20.50 crore at the IPL 2024 auction last year. The Hyderabad-based franchise recently named the Australian Test and ODI captain as their skipper for the upcoming edition of the prestigious league.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Cummins doesn't have great numbers in the IPL and is not a potent weapon either with the new ball or at the death.

"You have made Pat Cummins the captain but have you seen his recent IPL numbers? Check attentively, he concedes a lot of runs and doesn't score that many runs with the bat. Only four overseas players play. He neither bowls in the powerplay nor at the death," he elaborated (3:10).

The former India opener added that the Australian seamer doesn't merit a guaranteed place in the XI and doesn't captain his national side in the shortest format.

"If he is not going to do all those jobs, you are spending 25% of your overseas resources on a player whose place in the XI was not 100% guaranteed in the IPL. That is why Pat Cummins is not the captain of the team where 11 Australians play, although he has won the World Cup, but not T20," Chopra stated.

Chopra attributed Cummins' appointment as Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper to recency bias. He observed that the Australian captain brilliantly plotted India's downfall in the ODI World Cup final and that Daniel Vettori's presence as SRH head coach might have also worked in his favor.

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"He captained one year in total where I felt there was a lot of confusion" - Aakash Chopra on Aiden Markram being removed as SunRisers Hyderabad skipper

The SunRisers Hyderabad finished last in IPL 2023 under Aiden Markram's captaincy. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra noted that Aiden Markram, who has consistently delivered as the captain of SunRisers Hyderabad's sister franchise, has been removed as SRH skipper after just one bad year.

"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 said (2:15).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the South African middle-order batter didn't seem to have control of the franchise.

"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," Chopra explained.

Chopra reckons Markram might not even get a place in the SRH playing XI as they have a plethora of enticing overseas options. He added that Travis Head, due to Cummins' presence as skipper, and Heinrich Klaasen are virtual certainties in the XI.