Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra reckons that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) were forced to buy Pat Cummins at a massive amount in the IPL 2024 auction as they were looking for a captain. SRH outbid the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to buy Cummins for ₹20.50 crore at the auction. They spent a total of ₹30.80 crore to buy six players, with Travis Head at ₹6.80 crore being their other big-ticket purchase as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “I was slightly surprised. His Test cricket is unreal. He is one of the finest players. He captains the Australian team and does well – won them the Ashes and the World Test Championship and also won them the ODI World Cup, which is phenomenal. The big question is why 20.50 crores because IPL numbers are ordinary.”
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The former India opener further added: “He has gone there only because he would be made the captain. There was a change in the coaching staff. You see Daniel Vettori there and his Australian connection, so you say that he should be made the captain as they didn’t enjoy Markram’s captaincy. They were searching for a new captain and he came very expensive.”
Pat Cummins has claimed 45 wickets in 42 IPL games at a poor economy rate of 8.54. The Australian pacer has done well in T20Is, picking up 55 dismissals in 50 matches at an economy rate of 7.37. But Aakash Chopra isn’t convinced about the SRH’s decision to buy Travis Head.
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“They bought Travis Head as well although they have so many openers. They have Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal. When you have three Indian openers available, you ask why one more is required, but they wanted Travis Head as well,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “If we leave the recency bias aside for some time, his T20 numbers are as ordinary as Pat Cummins, but they have kept him, which means they are thinking differently. It means Aiden Markram might not get a chance to play at all.”
