Ravichandran Ashwin rips apart SRH management for their captaincy swap between Pat Cummins and Aiden Markram

Ravichandran Ashwin is shocked by the captaincy change in Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team in IPL 2024. He also feels that Pat Cummins is a no-brainer as SRH skipper. Ravichandran Ashwin also reckoned that SRH should have retained Aiden Markram as captain in IPL 2024.

Aiden Markram led Sunrisers Hyderabad last season. However, the franchise removed him as skipper and named Pat Cummins as the captain for IPL 2024. Notably, they grabbed Cummins during the IPL 2024 auction at an expensive cost of Rs. 20.50.

However, it is to be noted that Aiden Markram led the sister franchise of SRH- Sunrisers Eastern Cape- to the second consecutive title in South Africa’s domestic league SA20 2024. Last season, Aiden Markram led the team to the trophy in their debut season and was later named SRH skipper.

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I was quite shocked: Ravichandran Ashwin on SRH captaincy change 

While speaking about Sunrisers Hyderabad on his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his shock and displeasure over Pat Cummins taking over SRH captaincy. Ashwin feels Aiden Markram should have been retained after his extraordinary captaincy in SA20.

“SunRisers have hit two titles back to back at the SA20. They’ve done it with two extraordinary teams. I was quite shocked, actually. They have made Pat Cummins the captain.

I was having a small hunch that they would go with Markram. Markram had an extraordinary season for his franchise in the SA20. The cross-pollination would have been amazing,” said Ashwin, who is a member of Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024.

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Pat Cummins is a no-brainer: Ashwin

The Indian spinner also feels Pat Cummins is a no-brainer as skipper in IPL. He also feels SRH will have plenty of problems with Cummins as skipper.

“Pat Cummins is a no-brainer. But with Cummins as a captain, they will have a problem of plenty in the team with so many stars. Keeping Travis Head as backup, they would go for Markram, Cummins, (Heinrich) Klaasen, and (Wanindu) Hasaranga.

Because Hasaranga is a crucial facet for them. If they decide Hasaranga is not needed, in some venues they can play (Fazalhaq) Farooqi or Marco Jansen instead of him. This is what I thought because it makes sense,” the off-spinner concluded. 

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Pat Cummins led Australia to an ODI WC victory in India

Notably, Pat Cummins is the captain of Australia in ODIs and Tests. However, he does not lead them in T20Is. He leads a T20 team for the first time in IPL 2024. Last year, Cummins led Australia to an ODI World Cup victory in India. Cummins also led the team to the ICC WTC 2023 trophy against India in the final.

Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad commence their journey in IPL 2024 with the clash against Kolkata Knight Riders in Eden Gardens in Bengaluru. The match takes place on Saturday, March 23. SRH finished in the last spot in the points table last season and were the worst performers.