IPL 2023: Bhuvneshwar Kumar set to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad in Aiden Markram's absence

With Aiden Markram set to miss the first match for Sunrisers Hyderabad, ace Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to lead the team in the campaign initiator against Rajasthan Royals. Bhuvneshwar could be seen posing for the all-captains photo ahead of the mega-tournament.

Aiden Markram, who was earlier appointed the captain of the Orange Army, will be taking care of national duties as the right-handed batsman will be playing for South Africa in the two-match ODI series against Netherlands. With South Africa's World Cup qualification at stake, the management has decided to play a full-strength team against Netherlands, who had earlier defeated the Proteas in the 2022 T20 World Cup to crash them out of the tournament.

In Markram's absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar emerges as the obvious choice to lead the team, having done that earlier for SRH. The 33-year-old could be seen leading SRH in the absence of the regular skippers. Captaining the Hyderabad-based franchise in 7 matches, Kumar has registered 2 wins against 5 losses.

Sunrisers Hyderabad to play their first match against Rajasthan Royals on April 2

In the second afternoon match of the IPL 2023, Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Rajasthan Royals at their den in Hyderabad. Both teams would look to register their first victories of the tournament in the match which will be played on April 2.

While Sunrisers will be devoid of the services of Markram, Rajasthan Royals will be missing their key pacer Prasidh Krishna who was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. Veteran bowler Sandeep Sharma has been called in as Krishna's replacement who would be keen to impress his new patrons on debut.

While Markram will be back for his team's second game on April 7 which will be played at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium, the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals will move to Guwahati for their first home match of the season on April 5.