SunRisers Hyderabad is all set to kickstart their campaign in the ongoing 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League with a game against Rajasthan Royals at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Interestingly, India’s senior bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on a stand-in basis and will lead the game against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Bhuvneshwar Kumar Is Leading SRH
This isn’t the first time that Bhuvi is leading the Orange Army in the absence of regular captains. Bhuvneshwar has been with Sunrisers since their inception in 2013 and has led them in the past as well – in six games in 2019 and once in 2022. SRH won 2 of the 7 games.
And he is back as SRH’s leader once again as the franchise is without the services of its newly-appointed captain, Aiden Markram.
Aiden Markram is currently in South Africa as he is currently playing the 3rd and the final ODI of the series against the Netherlands on Sunday. After the final fixture, Markram and other IPL-bound players who are part of the national team will fly to India for the ongoing season.
In the previous season, SA players missed international cricket to take part in the Indian Premier League but this time Cricket South Africa didn’t allow the players to leave early this time.
Markram and other players will fly to India soon and will be available for selection in the ongoing IPL in the next 23 days. Apart from Markram, SRH is also without the services of Marco Jansen and Heinrich Klaasen.
Talking about the ongoing game, Bhuvneshwar won the toss and opted to bowl first in Match 4 of the IPL 2023. Harry Brook, who joined the franchise for Rs 13.25 crore, has been handed the IPL debut cap. This is for the first time since 2019 that SRH is playing at their home ground.
Playing XI of RR vs SRH:
Rajasthan Royals:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (wk/captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, KM Asif, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Harry Brook, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips (wk), Umran Malik, Adil Rashid, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (captain), T Natarajan, Fazalhaq Farooqi
