"Lot of focus in this match on how he fares": Aakash Chopra on Aiden Markram

NEW DELHI: Former India opener Aakash Chopra feels that South African batter Aiden Markram has to perform consistently in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 in order to retain his place in Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) playing XI.

SRH will lock horns with five-time champions, Mumbai Indians (MI) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in their second IPL 2024 clash. Both teams started with narrow losses of four runs and six runs to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Titans (GT), respectively, in their campaign openers.

The former cricketer asserted that Aiden Markram needs to perform in the coming matches else he will be replaced by star Australia batter Travis Head in the playing XI for the Hyderabad franchise.

"Who are the three Hyderabad players I will be focussing on? Heinrich Klaasen has already done very well. So I am trying to go elsewhere. Will Aiden Markram play? It will be a major focus point for me because Travis Head is already in their minds," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

The 46-year-old player further stated that if Head plays in the team then Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi won't be able to play as the top three for the SRH team in the playing XI.

"They will be longing to play him (Head) but as soon as they play him, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi won't be able to play as the top three. Markram's days are numbered, so there will be a lot of focus in this match on how he fares," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Markram was appointed the skipper of the Hyderabad franchise for IPL 2023 following a title triumph for Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20 2023. The side finished at the bottom of the points table last season as they were able to win only four games out of the 14 matches they played in the group stage. In that season, the right-hand batter scored 248 runs in 13 games at an average of 22.55.