Sangha, 23, is viewed as one of the emerging leaders in Australian cricket and been regarded as the frontrunner for the role following Usman Khawaja's move to Brisbane Heat. He led Thunder in three matches last season when Khawaja was with the Test side and Chris Green at Covid-19. Barring injury or illness he will be around all season which would mean no need for Warner to step in.

"This means a lot," he said. "I have been fortunate to have played under some tremendous leaders at Sydney Thunder, starting with Shane Watson.

"There have also been other quality skippers including Callum Ferguson, Usman Khawaja, and Chris Green. Each of them had positive impacts on the team, and something they all did well was they led by their actions - and that's something I want to do."

Sangha was Thunder's leading run-scorer last season with 445 at a strike-rate of 132.04. For the first half of this year's tournament he will be able to call on a top order that includes Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw before Warner comes in for a handful of matches after the Test summer is complete before heading to India.

Zampa's name has been floated as a candidate to captain Australia in ODIs and T20Is and he is part of the senior leadership group of the national team.

He captained Stars in one game last season when the squad was hit by Covid, leading them to victory against Adelaide Strikers.

"It's an honour to lead the Melbourne Stars in Glenn's absence and I look forward to helping get the best out of this group," he said. "Our Stars journey won't be complete without a BBL title and we're throwing everything into this season to achieve that.