Aiden Markram to captain Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2023

Aiden Markram has been named the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain for IPL 2023.

Markram, 28, recently led Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title, where he also finished as the tournament's third leading run-maker.

Sunrisers had to fill the leadership role after releasing Kane Williamson ahead of the IPL auction last December. The first player retained by the franchises ahead of the mega auction in 2022, Williamson struggled for form as Sunrisers failed to make the playoffs last season finishing eighth. Williamson missed the final league match last season to return to New Zealand for the birth of his child following which Bhuvneshwar Kumar took over the reins.

It is understood that Bhuvneshwar, who has been with the franchise since its inception in 2013, along with Mayank Agarwal (bought in the December auction) and Markram were among the contenders for the leadership position. Markram was chosen for the role by the Sunrisers team management, which is led by Brian Lara, who was appointed as head coach ahead of the auction.

In SA20, Markram proved he could excel both as a captain and a batter while leading Eastern Cape. Alongside making 369 runs at a strike rate of 127 including a century, Markram also bagged 11 wickets at an economy of 6.19 with his part-time offspin - enough to earn 596.6 points and top the Total Impact charts calculated as per ESPNcricnfo's Smart Stats tool.

Sunrisers paid INR 2.6 crore to buy Markram at the 2022 auction. In that season, Markram scored 381 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 139.05 and an average of 47.62.