Australia’s 2023 ODI World Cup-winning skipper Pat Cummins has been handed the captaincy of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise, replacing South African Aiden Markram, for the forthcoming 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting March 22.

Cummins will be SRH’s third captain in three seasons. New Zealander Kane Williamson led the Orange Brigade to an eighth-place finish in 2022 before he was released ahead of the 2023 season, in which SRH finished last under Markram’s captaincy with only four wins in 14 league games.

This will be the first time that the Australian pacer will lead a side in the IPL, but his appointment comes after a successful period as captain of Australia, during which he led them to victory in the World Test Championship and the 2023 ODI World Cup, with both wins in the finals coming against India.

Cummins had withdrawn from the previous season of the IPL to focus on international cricket but entered the auction for the 2024 season, where he became the first player in IPL history to get a bid of Rs 20 crore. The SRH’s record bid of Rs 20.50 crore for Cummins was shortly broken by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who bid Rs 24.75 crore for Cummins’ Aussie teammate Mitchell Starc. Cummins, coincidentally, had been part of the KKR squad from 2020 to 2022.

Cummins’ elevation to the leadership role in the SRH will also allow the Hyderabad side the flexibility of playing their new signings in Australian batter Travis Head and Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga in addition to finisher Heinrich Klaasen instead of Markram as an option. Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi and South Africa’s Marco Jansen are the other overseas quicks in the squad, while New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips rounds off their roster of eight overseas players.

Markram, who led the team last season, could manage only 248 runs in IPL 2023. He, however, has successfully led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape franchise to back-to-back titles in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the SA20, Cricket South Africa’s T20 league.

In addition to the latest captaincy change, SRH had also named a new head coach ahead of the 2024 IPL season, with former New Zealand left-arm spinner and captain Daniel Vettori taking over from Brian Lara, who had in turn replaced Tom Moody as coach for IPL 2023. SRH also replaced Dale Steyn with former New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin as their bowling coach.

The Pat Cummins-led SRH will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against KKR at the Eden Gardens on March 23, before playing Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad on March 27.

CSK loses Conway till May

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will miss the services of opener Devon Conway atleast for the first half of the IPL 2024, as the New Zealander has been ruled out after suffering a thumb injury.

The southpaw, who was adjudged the Player of the Match in the IPL 2023 final against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad last year, suffered a thumb injury during the recently-concluded T20I series against Australia at home.

The 32-year-old was consequently ruled out of the ongoing two-match Test series and is set to undergo a surgery this week. As a result, the opener is likely to be sidelined for rehab for eight weeks.

“Following several scans and specialist advice, the decision was made to operate on Conway with a likely recovery period of at least eight weeks. We’re all feeling for Devon. He’s a massive part of the Blackcaps and we’re going to miss his presence both on and off the field,” Kiwi head coach Gary Stead said.

The absence of Conway, who has formed a formidable opening pair with Ruturaj Gaikwad in the past couple of seasons, will force the CSK to restructure their composition. Conway has almost owned the opener’s slot in the CSK line-up, scoring 924 runs in 23 matches, averaging 48.63 with a 141.28 strike-rate. He has struck nine fifties and was the highest run-getter for CSK in 2023, with 672 runs from 16 matches, including a quickfire 47 in the final.

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK will kick off their title defence in IPL 2024 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the tournament opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.