Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) is one of the few strong competitors in IPL. They always had the talent of their players for that, and it is great to see that now they have the title, which some of the teams haven’t got yet.
However, the beginning was no paradise. They were characterized by the mix-up of four different captains in just the first two seasons! Then, David Warner turned the tide and created the franchise as it is today.
Now, let us take a look at the captains that Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL history has witnessed.
List of Captains of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL History
1. Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara captained Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013. He had a respectable record to his name as Sri Lanka’s captain but this was not the case with the IPL.
Sanga’s earlier legal transactions with Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers were not fruitful. And the same was evident during his SRH time.
Sanga captained Hyderabad for nine games and quit in the middle of the season. SRH bagged five wins against his leadership while their journey seemed a little unstable.
2. Cameron White
White was appointed captain after Sanga quit. The former Australian led the team till the end of the season.
White’s captaincy brought SRH into playoff race. Three wins in first five matches of new season made Hyderabad earn a spot in the playoffs for the first time.
Although SRH fell short in the Eliminator, White’s stint turned out to be the one that kick-started SRH, giving a decent start in the IPL.
3. Shikhar Dhawan
In the wake of not retaining White, SRH crowned Shikhar Dhawan their new captain in IPL 2014. Dhawan had almost no captaincy background.
That turned out to be a hard situation for him as SRH could not make a name for themselves. This even affected his batting a little.
Thus the management decided to let Dhawan go from captaincy after 10 games. The team won just four of those matches.
4. Daren Sammy
When the SRH management decided to part ways with Dhawan, Daren Sammy was the one chosen to take over the leadership. He was the captain of the squad in the last four matches, out of which two were won by his leadership.
5. David Warner
SRH went through four different captains in a two-year time frame, which called for stable leadership. As a result, they shortlisted David Warner.
Things changed in a radical manner as he took over. The year 2015 marked an average season for SRH, but 2016 was the one with the real thing.
The Warner-led squad went up to the playoffs and eventually, they were the champions in their fourth year. The left-hander’s leadership and performance were the reasons for such a huge milestone.
He was soon their core player. Warner’s batting and tactical captaincy took SRH into the playoffs consecutively in 2017.
However, the worst time in his life came then. “Sandpaper Gate” incident took place, after which Warner was given a year’s suspension, and consequently, he lost the captaincy of SRH.
He was absent in 2018, while in 2019 he played only as a batsman. But in 2020, he returned as captain and took SRH to Qualifier 2.
Then came the phase of poor batting in 2021, which resulted in the dismissal from SRH’s captaincy and ultimately from the team. Nonetheless, Warner has been their leader in 67 games, which resulted in 35 wins.
6. Kane Williamson
In 2018, while Warner was not around, the responsibility of leading the Sunrisers was given to Kane Williamson. He had been, after all, leading the New Zealand team for such a long time in international tournaments.
Williamson did not only use his know-how but also brought in the versatility of SRH to their second final. He was the player with the most runs (735) and the team led by him was excellent, but they could not win the trophy; however, he was awarded the Orange Cap.
The Kiwi captain kept on casting his spell in 2019 as well. He led the SRH team to yet another playoffs, but they lost in the Eliminator match.
In 2020, as Warner took over again, he gave up the charge. But Williamson once more took the charge in the middle of the 2021 edition. SRH had a really bad season as they were last in the points table.
Management kept Williamson for 2022, although SRH had a lackluster season. Overall, Williamson was the captain of Hyderabad for 46 matches and he managed to win in 22.
7. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a successful collaboration with SRH. He got the Purple Cap two times while playing for them.
The Indian fast bowler got a chance to captain the side during Williamson’s absence in 2019. The period was short, but SRH managed to secure two wins out of six.
Then, Bhuvi stood in once each in 2022 and 2023. On both occasions, SRH suffered defeats.
8. Manish Pandey
While Williamson and Bhuvi served as captain and vice-captain in 2021, both were missing for SRH’s last league stage match. So, Manish Pandey took on the captaincy role for the lone match.
He couldn’t do much in the match as SRH lost another game and finished in the last position.
9. Aiden Markram
After having a bad 2022 season, SRH released Williamson from his contract. So they had to find a new leader.
And the franchise appointed Aiden Markram as captain. Markram had caught the eye of the management with his leadership capabilities in the SA20 held earlier in 2023. His leadership ended with a championship victory for SRH’s sister franchise, Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
So the expectations were huge. But Markram was not able to give the performance that was expected. SRH left the league stage with only four victories from 14 matches.
Read Also:- Sad Endings in Cricket
10. Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins played his part in 2024, lifting the team up from the last position. Australia’s captain who had won the WTC and the World Cup was back in the IPL.
There were great expectations and he met them. Under the aggressive approach of Cummins, SRH advanced to the final.
The team could not win the title but the captaincy of Cummins imparted confidence to all the players. The fans were expecting an even more thrilling season, but it did not happen in 2025.
