Pat Cummins seems to play extremely well when he's got a leadership role: Steve Smith reflects on SRH's captaincy choice

Senior Australian batter Steve Smith is confident that Pat Cummins will do a good job as captain of the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise in IPL 2024. Smith asserted that Cummins seems to perform even better when he has the responsibility of leading a side.

Cummins, Australia's Test and ODI captain, has replaced Aiden Markram as the SunRisers Hyderabad captain for the IPL 2024 season. The fast bowler was purchased by SRH at the mini-auction in December for a whopping ₹20.5 crore.

Under Markram, the Hyderabad franchise finished last in IPL 2023. They won only four out of 14 games, ending the league stage with merely eight points. Smith, though, expects Cummins to do a better job as SRH captain in IPL 2024.

"I think he'll do a great job for Hyderabad while working with Daniel Vettori (SRH head coach). They've got a great rapport as they had worked together in Australia when Dan was the assistant coach," Smith was quoted as saying in a PTI report.

"And, yeah, he seems to play extremely well when he's got a leadership role as well. So, I am looking forward to seeing how Hyderabad fares this year," he added.

Cummins, 30, previously represented Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He has played 42 games in the T20 league, claiming 45 wickets at an average of 30.16. He has also slammed three half-centuries and has a strike rate of 152.21.

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Cummins has been exceptional as a leader for Australia

Smith's optimism over Cummins' leadership stems from the fact that the latter has had an exceptional time as Australian captain over the last year and a half. Under the fast bowler, Australia retained the Ashes and also won the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, recovering brilliantly after a very poor start.

Recently, the Aussies registered a 2-0 Test series win in New Zealand. Again, the Australians came from behind to clinch the second Test. After the triumph, Cummins reflected on how the team has not always been at its best but found a way to win, with different players putting their hands up.

"At times, we haven't played our best cricket, but still found a way to win," the Australian captain commented. "It's similar to the ODI World Cup. You keep finding a way to win even if at times it's not fully functioning, the whole unit."

Coming back to the IPL, SRH begin their IPL 2024 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 23.