Australia cricketer Aaron Finch assessed Pat Cummins‘ captaincy so far in the IPL, opining whether the pacer could be given the leadership mantle for the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting in June in the USA and West Indies. Having been named as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captain ahead of the 2024 IPL, Cummins has led the team admirably even if he has not been at his wicket-taking best.
After finishing at the eighth spot in last two seasons, the SRH management trusted Cummins as their leader, removing Aiden Markram from the position despite his successive titles with Sunrisers’ sister franchise Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the SA20. While the move was seen with shrunk eyes by many, Cummins, who has had a dream run with Australia with a WTC title and ODI World Cup, has repaid the faith shown in him by the thinktank, as the Hyderabad-based franchise has won five of their seven matches so far, dominating the opponents with consummate ease.
“We’ve already seen, so far, the freedom that SRH is playing with, and I think, whether it’s a World Cup, whether it’s the Big Bash, or any other T20 competition, you sit down and you map out how you think you’re going to win it. And you have to be prepared because it’s so volatile. From Australia’s point of view and SRH’s too, Pat has been a wonderful leader. I think the calmness that he brings to a group and also being a bowler, he can sympathize with a bowler when it’s not going well. He knows what to say at the right time,” Finch said on Star Sports Press Room.
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”And I know in my experience as a batsman, when you speak to bowlers, sometimes you don’t have the same understanding of why did you bowl that ball at that stage. And there’s more to it than just a poorly executed delivery or maybe the plan was wrong. So, I think Pat’s got that great understanding of what it takes to be a bowler in that situation. So, he gets through to them a lot easier,” he added.
Finch opened up on the possibility of Cummins leading the Australian T20 World Cup squad and Jake Fraser-McGurk’s inclusion in the squad.
“Depending on Mitch Marsh and his fitness, he’s obviously out at the moment because of his quad or his hamstring. I’m not 100% sure. But if he’s fit, he will captain the side in my opinion. And Australian cricket is really mindful of the load on Pat Cummins as a player and as a leader. It’s incredibly time-consuming to be a captain of an international team and a franchise for that matter. So, the fact that he’s doing Test cricket, ODI cricket, IPL, that’s an incredible load as well as playing three formats of the game and expecting to be at your absolute best day in, day out, which he has been for the last couple of years.
“So, I think the recharge that he needs away from the game will come through Mitch Marsh captaining, and I’ve got no doubt that Mitch Marsh is the right man for the job for Australia at the moment. In terms of Jake Fraser-McGurk, Australia has got some seriously tough selection questions when they’re picking their squad in the next week or so.
“I know that they’re meeting later in the week to have their initial meeting. They’ll probably have two or three to go through the squad and dissect everything. But his name will be well and truly on the table, and there’ll be some nervous guys around, I reckon, waiting for that squad to be announced because there’s so many players, so much talent in Australian cricket at the moment,” Finch said.
Finch also spoke on the question of Indian seam attack for the World Cup.
“I think that the spin could get them out of trouble. I think the form that Kuldeep is in, I expect that he’ll be in that squad and in the starting 11. So I think that could cover up a few issues at times. Arshdeep, I feel, is still a very quality bowler. He can swing the new ball. He hasn’t quite got it right. He’s not in his best form at the moment, but I think he’s got all the tools to have a big impact in a World Cup. But at the same time, understanding that it’s still seven weeks away until they play, so there’s enough time for guys to be playing another 10 games, potentially which is a lot when you’re talking about T20 preparation.”
