Goal is to guide SRH to the title: Cummins
Pacer Jofra Archer was on Tuesday recalled to England’s squad for the defence of its T20 World Cup title after being out of action for a year. Meanwhile, pacer Anrich Nortje and the uncapped duo of Ryan Rickelton and Ottniel Baartman were included in South Africa’s squad.
The squads:
England: Jos Buttler (Capt., wk), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley and Mark Wood.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (Capt.), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi and Tristan Stubbs. Reserves: Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi.
Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in the second half to help Barcelona claim a hard-fought 4-2 win on Monday over visitors Valencia, which was leading 2-1 when it was reduced to 10 men just before the break. Barca moved back to second in LaLiga on 73 points. Barca’s win postponed for a couple of weeks Real Madrid’s almost inevitable title celebrations as Carlo Ancelotti’s side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
The results: LaLiga: Barcelona 4 (Lopez 22, Lewandowski 49, 82, 90+3) bt Valencia 2 (Duro 27, Pepelu 38-pen).
Serie A: Genoa 3 (Thorsby 17, Frendrup 27, Gudmundsson 63) bt Cagliari 0.
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins has set his immediate goal of guiding the team to triumph at the Indian Premier League.
Speaking with The Hindu on the sidelines of a promotional event for Carrera eyewear here on Tuesday, Cummins said he was very keen to nish o the IPL campaign on a high for Sunrisers as he felt his boys were really playing well.
“Our opener Abhishek Sharma is the most impressive I have seen. A real talent,” he said.
On whether the early dismissals of openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in the PowerPlay puts pressure on the others, Cummins said: “It will be great if they put runs on the board, but it cannot work every time. We got a very strong batting line-up to cover the base, re-settle a bit and make it to the top four as the rst objective,” he said.
No change
Cummins, who led Australia to victory in the World Test championship and the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, said there was not much of a change in his style of captaincy between leading his country and SRH in the IPL.
“The hardest thing is to know the players, motivate each one of them. Luckily, it didn’t take very long and they have been pretty welcoming,” Cummins said.
Reecting on the Impact
Cummins.
The hardest thing is to know the players, motivate each one of them
Player Rule, the Australian fast bowler said it was harsh on the bowlers when batters keep coming.
“We are a little dierent side with so many all-rounders and the Impact Rule is important for us in the context of having ve full time bowlers,” he said.
“It is a huge challenge to be a bowler, especially in a T20 format. You have to have plans as batters come hard at you. But, if you really bowl good overs in a game, they could be match-winning,” Cummins said.
What makes Australia so special in a World Cup? “I think it is the condence of the players, the brand of cricket we play and many of them are quite experienced. They know what it means to win big matches,” Cummins said.