Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins believes his team’s players exhibit calculated aggression rather than reckless play as they prepare to face Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk Stadium. Despite reaching the finals last season, SRH hasn’t replicated their success this year, winning only two out of eight matches so far in IPL 2025.
Cummins on SRH’s strategy
In an exclusive interview on JioHotstar’s “Gen Gold” series, Cummins expressed his confidence in the team’s batting prowess. “Our guys are well suited to striking at close to 200, so that’s what we always encourage,” he said. He highlighted SRH’s potential, saying, “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.” Cummins acknowledged the explosive capabilities of his batters, saying, “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.”
Despite this season’s struggles, Cummins remains supportive. “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,” he said.
Impressive young talent
Cummins praised young batter Aniket Verma, who scored 74 runs against Delhi Capitals in Vizag. Verma’s aggressive style fits well with the team’s philosophy. “No matter the game situation, he would try to hit sixes and strikes beautifully,” Cummins noted. On fostering young talent, he added, “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.”
Experience in bowling line-up
Cummins also shared the importance of their experienced bowling line-up, which includes Harshal Patel, Mohammad Shami, Jaydev Unadkat. “ I feel keeping a cool head when the batters are scoring runs and the ball’s flying around is really important,” he explained.
