IPL 2023: Bhuvneshwar Kumar to lead in SRH's opening match
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their opening match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. The Indian seamer, who has also captained in the past, will replace Aiden Markram, who is away on international duty. The latter was named the franchise's skipper in February this year. Here are further details.
Bhuvneshwar has led SRH before
Bhuvneshwar has been the frontline pacer for SRH since joining them in 2014. He is the only SRH bowler to have taken over 100 wickets in the tournament. Bhuvi leads the list with 130 wickets from 115 matches at an average of 25.01. Bhuvneshwar also led SRH in seven matches between 2019 and 2022. However, the Orange Army won only two of them.
IPL to get underway on March 31
Defending champions Gujarat Titans will face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the opening match of IPL 2023 on March 31. As stated, the Orange Army will meet last year's finalists RR in their campaign opener on April 2. The IPL returns to its familiar home-and-away format, with all 10 teams scheduled to play seven games at their home venues.
A look at SRH's squad
A look at SRH's squad: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram (captain), Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (stand-in captain), T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Anmolpreet Singh, Akeal Hosein.
SRH will the services of Markram
Markram will miss the IPL opener to feature in South Africa's home ODI series against the Netherlands. As per ESPNcricinfo, pace-bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen and wicket-keeper Heinrich Klaasen will also miss SRH's initial two games due to the Netherlands series. Markram recently guided Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title. With 366 runs in 12 games, Markram finished as the third-highest run-getter.
His stint with SRH
After serving Punjab Kings (PBKS) in his debut season, Markram went to SRH in the 2022 edition. The Orange Army splashed Rs. 2.6 crore to get the Proteas batter on board. The swashbuckling batter justified the decision by hammering 381 runs at 47.63. Markram, who majorly batted at number five, struck at 139.05. His efforts, however, didn't help SRH qualify for playoffs.
