David Warner and Aiden Makram to lead Delhi, Hyderabad

David Warner and Aiden Makram will lead their respective franchises in the Indian T20 League (Ind T20 League) in the forthcoming season. The Australian international will helm Delhi while the South African will take over the captaincy role for Hyderabad in the league that will commence from March 31. 

The Management teams of the two franchises have given an official confirmation to this  "David will be our captain and Axar Patel will be his deputy," said a member of the ownership group of Delhi

A Hyderabad official revealed that the management, in consultation with head coach Brian Lara, decided to assign Makram as the skipper of the team following his purple patch in the recent SA20, in which the 28 year old led the Eastern Cape side to the title. 

“I am open to taking up the SRH leadership if it comes my way but I will not mind if it does not. I am prepared but it is up to the management," Markram told the press recently in Johannesburg. A new skipper was required for the Hyderabad side after Kane Williamson, their captain last year, was released by the franchise before the auction. The men in orange finished eight among ten teams last year. 

The story was completely different at Delhi’s camp. A Change in captaincy was more accidental than performance related. After regular skipper Rishabh Pant suffered a serious accident in late December last year, the franchise was left without any captain as the southpaw had been ruled out of the season. Axar was another potential candidate for the position but the management decided to entrust the vastly experienced Warner with the job. They have also made clear that Pant will be back the following year. Warner’s appointment was also influenced by Ricky Ponting who is Delhi’s coach. 

The 36 year old is not short on captaincy experience. He had previously captained Australia, had been Hyderabad’s skipper for four and a half season and had even led them to their maiden title in 2016 before he had to part ways with the franchise after a rather rancorous fallout in 2021.