The Sunrisers Hyderabad captain in the 2022 competition was Kane Williamson but he was released by the franchise for the 2023 edition. He paid the price for the Sunrisers finishing in 8^th spot and missing out on the playoffs. The big question now is who will succeed him as skipper? There are a few candidates for the job with South African star Aiden Markram one of the frontrunners for the position. He had a terrific IPL last season and was one of the key players for the Sunrisers. He has also previously captained the South African U19 team to World Cup glory in 2014. He did his chances of captaincy no harm when he recently captained the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to victory in the inaugural SA20 competition. The other potential captain is former Punjab Kings skipper Mayank Agarwal after the franchise secured his services for Rs. 8.25 crores ($1,028,639). His former team did not have a great competition as they finished in 6^th place—something that could count against him

When the talk of the best bowler of the Sunrisers Hyderabad comes up, there is only one name that is synonymous with this title and that is Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has been ably assisted by some fellow world-class bowlers, but he has been the one constant in the bowling line-up. He started his IPL career in 2009 and played his first two seasons for the RCB before moving on to represent the Pune Warriors, where he played for two years. He joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad team in 2014 and has taken an astonishing 130 wickets in 115 games. He is also one of only two players to have won the Purple Cap (most wickets) twice, achieving the feat in 2016 and 2017. Kumar’s best bowling figures of 5/19 are the best by a Sunrisers player in the IPL.

Sunrisers have had their fair share of batting maestros at the franchise with the list including international stars like Kane Williamson, Shikhar Dhawan, Johnny Bairstow, and Yuvraj Singh. Despite this array of stars, the most prolific batsman in their history has been former captain David Warner. Not only was he the leader when they won their only IPL title but he is also the all-time leading run-scorer with 3,271 runs from his 71 matches at an average of 55.44, which is exceptional in the shortest form of the game. He also holds the record for the highest individual score for the Sunrisers, scoring a brilliant 126 off 55 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2017 edition. Warner is one of only two centurions for the franchise with Johnny Bairstow being the other. The bad news for the Sunrisers is that both these batsmen are no longer playing for the franchise. They will be looking to the likes of Markram and Agarwal to lead the run scoring charts, with Rahul Tripathi providing the fireworks down the order as he has the team’s best strike rate of 158.23.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad team have not had the luxury of the biggest purse at the IPL auction but have invested wisely in players that have the potential to become world-class. Their biggest investment has been within their management team and if these former greats can inspire the team, then the players certainly have the talent to trouble any team in the competition. The attack will again depend on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, although he will be ably assisted by some classy operators in Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan, and pace merchant Umran Malik. It’s the young Malik that is creating the biggest stir with his deliveries clocking over the 150km/h mark. The youngster has stated that he is confident that he can reach the holy grail of the 160km/h mark.

It is rumoured that the Sunrisers Hyderabad owner is actually Kaviya Maran, the 30-year-old daughter of media mogul Kalanithi Maran, who founded the SUN Group in 1992. She is being touted as the main owner after she was spotted during the latest IPL auction. However, SUN Group, officially the Sunrisers owner, is still owned by Kalanithi.