IPL 2024: Sunrisers Hyderabad appoint Pat Cummins as captain for upcoming season

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have appointed Pat Cummins as the captain of the side ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, said the franchise through its social media accounts on Monday.

SRH were captained by Aiden Markram in previous two seasons, but didn’t gain any significant success, especially finishing at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2023, having just four wins from 14 matches. Markram, though, successfully led SunRisers Eastern Cape, a sister team of the SRH franchise to the trophy in the first two seasons of the SA20.

But Cummins had a magnificent 2023, which boosted his leadership credentials – winning the World Test Championship (WTC), retaining the Ashes in England and claiming a record sixth Men's ODI World Cup as captain of Australia.

It will be the first time Cummins will be captaining a side in the IPL and reunites with Daniel Vettori, the new SRH head coach who also works as an assistant coach for Australia.

He also becomes the second Australian to be SRH’s captain after fellow country-mate David Warner, who led the franchise in 67 matches from 2015 to 2021.

In last year's IPL Auction at Dubai, Cummins was roped in by the franchise for a whopping Rs 20.5 crore, making him the second-most expensive player in the history of the league. Cummins has previously been a part of Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

Sunrisers Hyderabad, the IPL 2016 winners, will open its IPL 2024 campaign on March 23 against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, followed by playing its first home match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 27 against five-time champions Mumbai Indians.