Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are all set to take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final of the Indian Premier League 2024. However, Cummins has changed the fortune for SRH who bought the pacer for INR 20 Crore in the auction. However, Pat Cummins has so far won the World Test Championship last June against India and the ODI World Cup win against the same opposition in November as well.
“I mean that would be great,” Pat Cummins said of the prospect of adding another trophy to his name. “I think the run [of winning trophies] has got to stop at some point… yeah, it has been a great couple of years but I hadn’t captained in any T20 cricket before this series. So, I wasn’t too sure what to expect.”
However, SRH also hired Daniel Vettori, who worked with Pat Cummins during the ODI World Cup last year as well. And, Cummins admitted to drawing from his experience of captaining that mega event in India during this year’s IPL as well.
“The T20 game is quite fast-paced, but I think drawing on particularly ODI captaincy over here [in India] last year, it didn’t feel too foreign to me,” Cummins said. “There have been a few changes this year. Obviously, Dan Vettori, as head coach, is a big one as well. Few other guys have come in this season, but I think at the start of the season you map out the style that you want to play to give yourself the best chance to win. Obviously, along the way you’re allowed to adapt and maybe change the personnel.”
He also praised Abhishek Sharma who has been in the purple patch from a title-winning Syed Mushtaq Ali campaign late last year as well. Meanwhile, Andhra’s Nitish Reddy also has scored nearly 300 runs at a strike rate of 143.56 as well.
“We were pretty strong with how we wanted to play – super-aggressive – and in a 14-game season, you’re not going to win every single game but we think if we play that way, you’re going to win most of them. That’s kind of how it played out – there are little bumps that come along the way but that’s okay but you try and make sure it stays on course,” Pat Cummins concluded. “Nitish and Abhishek are probably the two biggest examples. [These are] guys away from the Indian set-up, but have been fantastic. That has been the story of our season – those guys have taken the game on and put themselves out there and are having breakout seasons.”
