KKR vs SRH: Pat Cummins a very practical guy, admits assistant coach Simon Helmot

Sunrisers Hyderabad assistant coach Simon Helmot has praised franchise captain Pat Cummins for his clear and concise thinking about the game.

For the first time in his Indian Premier League career, Pat Cummins was handed over the reins of captaincy by the SRH after buying him for a record fee of 20.50 Crores. And without any surprises, the Australian has delivered for the Orange army which had been finishing in the bottom half since 2020.

Under Pat Cummins' leadership, the Sunrisers finished 2nd in the IPL 2024 points table and had somewhat a decent season with a few stumbles due to their high-risk style. Their dependency on the firepower duo of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head has come to the fore with opposing teams understanding the importance of their wickets.

But regardless of it, SRH have become finalists for the third time since their transformation from Deccan Chargers. In their previous finale back in 2018, Hyderabad were beaten by MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and after a wait of 6 seasons. Tomorrow at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, Orange Army will get their chance to land a 2nd IPL title.

Simon Helmot reveals Pat Cummins' mantra

One question that pops up in everyone's mind is how has Pat Cummins tasted so much success as captain at the international level. His core values and principles have been widely appreciated by the cricketing fraternity but SRH assistant coach Simon Helmot has admitted that there is more to it.

Helmot has revealed that Pat Cummins is a fine example of a great captain as he is very practical, humble, and empathetic toward his co-workers. Cummins is someone who also has his eyes on the statistical side of the game in terms of decoding the opposition's weaknesses.

Another top quality about the right-arm fast bowler is his time efficiency. Pat Cummins doesn't waste any time and always does what is required. So much so that Helmot even disclosed that Hyderabad's team meeting before the game against Rajasthan last night was of just 35 seconds.

"Very practical guy. Very humble, very empathetic with his fellow teammates and coaching staff. He is into the statistics, and gets the information he needs against a particular opposition in certain conditions. He doesn't waste time. Doesn't waste time in meetings. I think our team meeting today went for 35 seconds." - Simon Helmot told press reporters.

SRH avoids large group meetings

Simon Helmot then spoke about the one-to-one conversation that players have with Hyderabad's coaching staff which includes James Cook and James Franklin. He confirmed that players often go on discussing things about their game for hours but their main agenda is to refrain from conducting large group meetings.

"But a lot of information has already been spoken about. There's a lot of one-on-one conversations with, you know, our fielding coach Cookie (James Cook) or James Franklin, the bowling coach. I suppose we probably limit the large group meetings, but we still have them when we need them to ensure that you know, we're ready for any day." - Helmot concluded.