Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be without their captain, Ishan Kishan, for the opening few matches of IPL 2026. Kishan will serve as the stand-in captain in his absence, with Abhishek Sharma as vice-captain. The 2016 winners confirmed the development on March 18.
Cummins has not played any cricket since the end of the 2025–26 Ashes. The Australian pacer is still recovering from the back injury he sustained during the five-match series. Because of the same injury, he missed the Pakistan tour and the World Cup, where Australia failed to qualify for the Super Eight. While there is no confirmed timeframe for his return to the field, the 32-year-old is likely to join the squad on 23 March.
SRH had the option of handing the captaincy to Travis Head, who has led Australia, or to Heinrich Klaasen or even Nitish Kumar Reddy, but they have opted for Kishan. Last year, the wicketkeeper-batter led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. He has been leading Jharkhand for a long time and has also captained India at Under-19 level. However, this will be his first time leading a side in the IPL.
Kishan has been in red-hot form with the bat since returning to the international arena. The left-hander has scored 532 runs in 13 T20Is at an average of 40.92 and a strike rate of 207.00, including half-centuries against Pakistan and in the World Cup final against New Zealand.
For Abhishek, this will be his first experience of leadership.
Kishan’s first IPL match as captain will be against the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28.
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