The India and Sunrisers Hyderabad fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named the captain of the franchisee for their opening clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 against Rajasthan Royals to be played in Hyderabad on April 2.
The winners of IPL 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad, were forced to make a little change in the leadership for the first match of the season due to the fact that their regular captain Aiden Markram will not be available for selection for the first match at least and will only arrive in India on April 3.
Like several other South African players such as wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock and hard-hitting lower order batsman David Miller, Aiden Markram will also be busy with national duties in their bilateral series against the Netherlands and South Africa are desperate to make it to the 50 over World Cup which should be organised in India later this year in October-November.
For South Africa, it is important to win both their ODI matches against the Netherlands without any penalties and hope that Ireland will lose at least one ODI against Bangladesh in a three-match series that will be played in May this year.
The items senior India and SRH fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been with the IPL franchise since the start of their journey in IPL 2013. He has also captained Sunrisers Hyderabad on six matches in IPL 2019 and in one match in IPL 2022. In seven matches that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has captained Sunrisers Hyderabad, they have won only two.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have gone through a drastic transformation over the last two years with the absence of David Warner and Kane Williamson said to be felt in their batting order.
David Warner has rejoined his former IPL team Delhi Capitals and will be leading them in this IPL 2023 competition, and on the other hand Kane Williamson will be playing for a different IPL team for the first time ever as he will be seen in the colours of the defending champions Gujarat Titans.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will be confident of a strong display this season after going through a massive turnaround as far as their squad composition is concerned, but also with the fact that Aiden Markram captained their other franchises, Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the title win in the inaugural SA20 competition.
The right-handed top and middle order batsman Aiden Markram finished at the third spot in order of getting most runs in SA20, scoring 369 runs at a strike rate of 127. With his part-time spin bowling, Aiden Markram was also able to take 11 wickets.
Among other players, Marco Jansen and Heinrich Klaasen will also miss the first match for Sunrisers Hyderabad who will be left with only five overseas players, Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Adil Rashid, Akeal Hosein and Fazalhaq Farooqi to pick from.