Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

Dhaka: In the forthcoming edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead the Hyderabad franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Sunrisers Hyderabad took to micro-blogging site Twitter to officially announce the news.

The southpaw has been part of Sunrisers Hyderabad for quite some time now. In the last edition of IPL, he performed exceptionally well at the top, to give his team good starts upfront. And it might be the result of his good perfromances, that the management has shown so much of confidence in him.

The West Indian Twenty20 skipper Darren Sammy has been appointed as the the vice-captian of the side. “In top form as a right-handed batsman and a fast-medium bowler, Sammy’s experience in the sport as an all-rounder, as West Indies captain of the ongoing World T20 and his consecutive association with the franchise promises to lead the players as a team all the way up to the playoffs as in the previous season,” Sunrisers Hyderabad said in a release.

Along with Dhawan and Sammy, Amit Mishra, Dale Steyn and Thisara Perera are also the part of the Hyderabad franchise. All three are at the top of their game, and have performed exceptionally well in the on-going ICC World Twenty20 so far.

The seventh edition of IPL will kick-start from April 16. The first 30 matches will take place in the UAE and the remaining matches will possibly take place in India.