South African batter Aiden Markram has expressed a desire to take up the role of the captaincy of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. Markram is one of the front-runners for leadership of the franchise along with Mayank Agarwal and veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
"What’s going to happen, to be honest, either way, we back the management's decision about who they want to be in charge," Markram said.
"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," he said.
The 28-year-old staked his claim by leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape into the final of the inaugural SA20 with a match-winning century against Johannesburg Super Kings on Thursday.
Asked if he is open to leading the side in the 16th edition of IPL, Markram responded in a positive way.
"I have been captaining for a while before this tournament started. It's been a nice experience, a fresh start, I would say," he added.
Mayank, who hit a double hundred in the ongoing Ranji Trophy semifinal against Saurashtra, has also increased his chances of being named as captain of SRH. Bhuvneshwar on the hand is SRH's designated vice-captain and had previously led the side in former skipper Kane Williamson's absence.
Markram scored 381 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 139. 5 in the 2022 edition of the T20 league. The only thing that could work against him is his lack of experience in leading a team in the IPL.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Full Squad
Harry Brook, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Kartik Tyagi, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, T Natarajan, Vivrant Sharma, Aiden Markram, Adil Rashid, Mayank Dagar, Glenn Phillips, Akeal Hosein, Mayank Markande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Upendra Yadav, Sanvir Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Anmolpreet Singh, and Samarth Vyas
