Australian player Aaron Finch evaluated Pat Cummins’ IPL captaincy thus far and expressed his thoughts on whether the pacer should take the helm for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, which will take place in the USA and the West Indies in June. Although he hasn’t been getting as many wickets as he would have liked, Cummins has led Sunrisers Hyderabad brilliantly since being elected captain prior to the 2024 Indian Premier League.

The SRH management removed Aiden Markram from the post despite his many SA20 titles with Sunrisers sister team Sunrisers Eastern Cape, citing Cummins as their leader after the team finished ninth in the previous two seasons. Although the decision was met with dismay by many, Cummins—who has enjoyed a dream season with Australia, winning both the WTC title and the ODI World Cup—has paid back the think tank’s faith in him. The Hyderabad-based team has won five of its first seven games, easily defeating their opponents.

“We’ve already witnessed the freedom that SRH is playing with thus far, and I believe that in any T20 competition, be it the Big Bash, the World Cup, or another, you sit down and plot out how you believe you will win. It’s really volatile, so you need to be ready for anything. Pat has been an excellent leader from both Australia’s and SRH’s perspectives. Because of his poise in tense situations and his background as a bowler, I believe he can relate to other bowlers. On Star Sports Press Room, Finch stated, “He knows what to say at the right time.”

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And I can attest from my experience as a batsman that sometimes you don’t comprehend bowlers’ reasons for bowling a ball at that particular moment. And it’s not just a case of the delivery going wrong or the strategy not working as intended. Therefore, I believe Pat has a thorough understanding of what it takes to be a bowler in that particular scenario. He therefore communicates with them far more easily,” he continued.

Finch discussed the prospects of Pat Cummins captaining the Australian T20 World Cup team and the inclusion of Jake Fraser-McGurk in the team.

“Mitch Marsh is clearly out of commission right now due to his hamstring or quadriceps, depending on his condition. I’m not entirely certain. However, I believe he will captain the team if fit. Furthermore, Pat Cummins’s workload as a player and a leader is something Australian cricket is quite aware of. Being the captain of an international team, or any franchise for that matter, takes an enormous amount of time. He is playing three different forms of the game, including Test, ODI, and IPL cricket, which is an unbelievable burden, and he expects to be at his best every single day, as he has done for the past few years.

“Undoubtedly, Mitch Marsh’s captaincy will provide him with the much-needed break from the game, and I am confident that he is the best choice for Australia right now. When Australia selects its squad in the coming week or so, they will face some extremely difficult selection questions regarding Jake Fraser-McGurk.

“I am aware that they will be having their first meeting later this week. Probably two or three will be enough to go through the team and analyze each and every one of them. However, given the abundance of talented players in Australian cricket right now, Finch predicted that his name would be very much on the table and that some anxious folks would be waiting for the selection to be revealed.

Finch addressed the issue of India’s seam attack strategy for the World Cup as well.

“I believe the spin has the potential to save them. Given his current form, I believe Kuldeep will be in that squad and the starting 11. Thus, I believe that occasionally it could hide a few problems. I still think Arshdeep is a really good bowler. With the new ball, he can swing. He’s not quite getting it quite right. Even if he’s not playing at his best right now, I believe he has all the skills necessary to make a significant difference in a World Cup.

In addition, though, they still have seven weeks until they play, which means that they have ample opportunity to play an additional ten games, which is a lot when it comes to T20 preparation.”