South Africa batter Aiden Markram has been named the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain for the Indian Premier League 2023 on Thursday.

After Kane Williamson was released by Sunrisers prior to the IPL auction in December, the team had to fill in the leadership spot. Although the franchise had Indian cricketers such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mayank Agarwal as options, the Brian Lara-led team management opted to go ahead with Markram.

The batter recently led his side Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the title in the inaugural edition of the SA20 League and also finished among the top three run-getters of the tournament. He also scored a 58-ball century against Jo’burg Super Kings in the semifinals. The batter is currently the only other overseas captain in the IPL alongside former skipper and South African team-mate Faf du Plessis.

In the IPL, the 28-year-old has played just two editions and scored 527 runs in 20 matches. Markram had joined Punjab Kings as a replacement for England’s Dawid Malan in 2021 and scored 146 runs. In comparison, he featured in 14 games in the 2022 edition and scored 381 runs at an average of 47.63.