Former Australia cricketer Tom Moody has lavished huge praise on Pat Cummins after the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets in match 18 of IPL 2024 on Friday (April 5) in Hyderabad. Cummins-led SRH opted to bowl first and restricted Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co. for 165 for 5 before chasing down a moderate 166 in 18.1 overs, courtesy of Abhishek Sharma’s 12-ball 37 and Aiden Markram’s 50.
Moody lauded Cummins who doesn’t shy away from resorting to unorthodox tactics, which one may not think at first. Prior to IPL 2024, Cummins had no experience of captaining a T20 team across any level, however, Moody believes the Australian Test and ODI skipper has cracked the code to lead well in the shortest format as well. The former cricketer compared him with legendary captain MS Dhoni.
‘He is a bit like MS Dhoni’
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After SRH’s win over CSK, Moody told ESPNCricinfo, “The one thing I like about Cummins is he is a bit like MS Dhoni. He is prepared to make a decision that most people don’t think about, but makes you feel like ‘Why didn’t I think about that?’ Like the Abhishek Sharma over. It was quite an odd decision when you look at the other options they could have gone with.”
He added, “You have arguably the best new ball bowler in IPL history in Bhuvneshwar Kumar. You have got an off spinner against left-handers. You think Markram would be another one. There was plenty of other ways he could have gone. But he committed to that and it looked like from the get go, he convinced himself that it was the right decision.”
Cummins rotated his bowlers smartly on a sluggish surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad versus a famed Chennai batting lineup. He started with Abhishek Sharma bowling the first over of the match, after Chennai were asked to bat first, and used as many as seven bowlers — including himself — to restrict CSK to 165-5 before SRH’s power-hitters propelled them to a six-wicket win.
Cummins-led SRH are at the fifth spot, with two wins and equal number of losses, whereas CSK remain at the third spot despite two successive defeats.
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