Chandigarh, April 28: Speaking exclusively on JioHotstar’s special series “Gen Gold”, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins opened up on the team’s fearless brand of cricket, his leadership approach, and the young players shaping their season and overall journey in the TATA IPL.
On Sunrisers Hyderabad’s aggressive batting approach, he said:
“I think most of our players are quite aggressive. In that first game this season where we got 280-odd runs, the thing that stood out to me was it wasn’t reckless—it was calculated aggression. We’re lucky that we’ve got such strength that it’s never just about swinging. Our guys are well suited to striking at close to 200, so that’s what we always encourage.”
On whether Sunrisers Hyderabad has the most destructive T20 batting line-up, he said:
“Potentially yes, but I think we’re not going to have a day where everyone’s going to score runs. But we feel like with that batting line-up, all it takes is one, maybe two guys to play—and that could be match-winning for us. They’re all match winners, so I know I’d be worried coming up against that line-up because you know on their day they can score 100 runs in 30-odd balls.”
On young batter Aniket Verma, he said:
“He really impressed us in the warm-up matches and in the training. I think just the way he goes out—no matter the game situation—and tries and hit sixes. And that’s what he’s done. He takes on spin, and it’s just that freedom that he’s brought to his game. He’s only played a few games as of now, but he’s been really impressive. He’s striking beautifully.”
On working with new young talents like Aniket Verma and Ishan Kishan this season, he said:
“First of all, I try to get to know them—what they look like at their best. They’re similar players; both quite aggressive and like taking the game on. They’ve fitted in well with the team. They’re the type of players we deliberately look for during auction time. We convey to them that they should just keep playing to their strengths. Making sure they know we’re going to keep backing them—it’s not going to work every time, you might not score runs every time, but that’s okay.”
On the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling unit, he said:
“Last year, everyone talked about the runs, but there was a lot of experience in that bowling line-up, which, as a captain, I know how important that is. Last year, it was T. Natarajan, Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), and JD (Jaydev Unadkat), the kind of guys I could lean on. This year, it’s pretty much the same—Harshal Patel, Mohammad Shami, Jaydev Unadkat again. Then Adam Zampa. I feel keeping a cool head when the batters are scoring runs and the ball’s flying around is really important. Maintaining that confidence throughout a season comes with experience, so I feel like we’re well-placed.”
On Sunrisers Hyderabad’s role in raising the T20 scoring benchmark to 300, he said:
“I think the credit goes to our batting group. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, NKR (Nitish Kumar Reddy), Heinrich Klaasen—these guys are class, and I think they raised the ceiling of what’s possible in T20 batting. The wickets are good, and we’ve got an extra impact player, but they showed that chasing 10 an over should be more common if you have a strong line-up in these conditions. So, my job and Daniel Vettori’s job is to encourage them to be at their best. I think they’ve surprised everyone—maybe even themselves—with just how good their batting is.”
