Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad announced their new captain on Thursday (February 23) for the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league. The 2016 champions had many options to choose from for the role of the new leader, and in a surprising decision, they overlooked the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mayank Agarwal, who have previous experience leading in the IPL, and instead selected a South African international as the new captain.
The Orange Army took to Twitter to confirm the appointment of South African all-rounder Aiden Markram as the new captain of the franchise. The 28-year-old right-handed batter recently led Sunrisers Hyderabad’s sister franchise, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, to the title win in the inaugural edition of SA20, and that has worked in his favour, as after getting impressed by his leadership skills, the Hyderabad-based franchise has decided to make him the team’s new skipper.
Markram, who debuted in the IPL with Punjab Kings in 2021, joined SRH in last year’s mega auction for Rs 2.60 crore. In 20 matches played so far, he has scored 527 runs in the IPL, which came at an average of 40.54 and a strike rate of 134.10. A few days ago, Makram, who also led the South African U-19 side to a 2014 World Cup win, expressed his desire to lead the side in the IPL.
“What’s going to happen, to be honest… either way we back the management’s decision about who they want to be in charge. Becoming the captain is not the be all and end all. You can be in some form of leadership role too. But I am okay with captaincy, it’s something that I enjoy doing. I have been captaining for a while before this tournament started. It’s been a nice experience, a fresh start, I would say,” he had said.
The Sunrisers were in search of a new captain after they released Kane Williamson last year. New Zealand’s white-ball skipper will play for the Gujarat Titans in 2023.
