"Problem Of Plenty": 'Shocked' R Ashwin On SRH Captaincy Change Ahead Of IPL 2024

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed his "shock" over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH)'s decision to appoint Pat Cummins as captain. SRH sacked South African batter Aiden Markram after just one season, despite him leading their sister franchise, SunRisers Eastern Cape (SEC), to back-to-back SA20 league titles. SRH roped in Cummins for a price of INR 20.50 crore, before announcing that Australia's World Cup-winning captain will lead the franchise in IPL 2024. Ashwin revealed that he didn't saw the move coming, especially after what Markram achieved with SEC in the SA20 league.

"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," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

While admitting that Cummins "is a no-brainer" as far as there overseas combination is concerned, Ashwin suggested that the franchise might "have a problem of plenty" in the leadership department.

"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, Pat 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," he added.

Ahead of IPL 2024, Cummins, who has never captained a team in T20 cricket, said that SRH are looking forward