The Australia captain Pat Cummins has led the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, with a win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) during the Eliminator. This came after they finished with the wooden spoon in the 16th season of the tournament.
Under Pat Cummins’s captaincy, Sunrisers Hyderabad made a slow start in the tournament with one solitary victory in the first three encounters, before they earned four back-to-back victories, one of which was a 67-run win over the Delhi Capitals in an away fixture.
The leadership of Cummins have been quite exciting. He taken raised his hand in tough situations, and managed the players brilliantly in the setting the field placements. What he brought to the table in this season was his vital experience of understanding the situations of the game, having won the 50-over World Cup in India just six months ago, besides lifting the World Test Championship (WTC) in June 2023.
‘That’s been the story of our team’ – Pat Cummins
Sunrisers Hyderabad made had a slight juggling in the middle of the competition where they lost three games in a space of four fixture, and that win too came when they held their nerve against the Rajasthan Royals at home, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
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The win against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) displayed how aggressive and strong they have been in their batting approach, as whenever a tough situation appeared, Pat Cummins have come up with smart tactics.
In the first qualifier at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Sunrisers faced a hammering by eight-wickets against the Kolkata Knight Riders, before they made the comeback in the eliminator. Cummins have been quite good with the ball in hand, having taken 17 wickets in 15 games at an average of 32.23 and an economy of 9.28.
In the Eliminator game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, he took a few great decisions, such as bringing the spinners, as the tracks started to help the slow bowlers, with no dew being present. The fans around the globe have applauded Pat Cummins’ captaincy as the Sunrisers look to get their second IPL title after eight-years wait.
While speaking in the press conference on the eve of the final, Cummins spoke about how he has been preparing himself going into the final clash against KKR.
‘It would be great (winning the IPL 024 title) but the run’s going tis tup at some point.’ Pat Cummins reflected on his winning track in the finals.
‘It’s been a great couple of years, but I haven’t captained any T20 cricket team before this series. So, I’m not too sure what to expect. It’s quite fast-paced,” Cummins expressed in the presser.
The veteran talked about how they have used the experience in their bowling line-up, along with the youngsters who have worked perfectly for the success of the IPL 2024.
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It’s been huge. We have quite an experienced bowling line-up, including (Jaydev) Unadkat and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar). Also, so many youngsters have come through and have won us games by themselves, like Nitish (Reddy) and Abhishek (Sharma),” Pat Cummins remarked.
‘We also have guys who have been away from the Indian setup, but they have been fantastic. So, that’s been the story of our team,” The successful captain added.
Kolkata holds the upper-hand for the Hyderabad side, having won the first qualifier. But the pressure of a final is quite different. The factors and expectations are pumping up the fans for a thrilling final.