"Markram supremacy kicking off" - Fans react as SunRisers Hyderabad name Proteas batter as skipper for IPL 2023

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) named all-rounder Aiden Markram as their captain for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday, February 23. The Proteas star recently led SunRisers Eastern Cape to the SA20 title.

The position was vacant after Hyderabad parted ways with Kane Williamson ahead of the IPL 2023 mini-auction.

Mayank Agarwal, who was signed at the mini-auction, was one of the front-runners to lead the side, but the franchise settled for Markram instead. Apart from leading the Eastern Cape to the SA20 title, the right-handed batter also led South Africa to the ICC U19 World Cup glory in 2014.

He is the fifth South African cricketer to lead an IPL team after Shaun Pollock, JP Duminy, David Miller, and AB De Villiers.

Fans saw this coming and lauded the SunRisers Hyderabad management for placing their bets on the right candidate. Many also predicted that Markram would guide Hyderabad to the title this year.

Here are some of the reactions:

Incidentally, Markram has previously shown interest in becoming the SRH captain. Speaking ahead of the SA20 final against the Pretoria Capitals, he said:

"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."

SunRisers Hyderabad will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, April 2.

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SunRisers Hyderabad squad for IPL 2023

Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 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, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Kartik Tyagi.

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