Finally the inevitable has happened as Ishan Kishan has been named as the skipper of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the first ‘few matches’ of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the franchise awaits Pat Cummins‘ availability. Along with Kishan, Abhishek Sharma has been named as his deputy. The duo will lead an experienced team in the IPL starting March 29. The announcement was made through a social media post by SRH on March 18 (Wednesday).
In fact, SRH will be playing the very first match of the tournament against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Can Ishan Kishan do his Jharkhand magic at SRH?
The southpaw, who was out of the Indian team for nearly two years, made a roaring comeback on the back of a phenomenal Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 season with his state side Jharkhand. He led the team to their first-ever senior men’s title at the national level where the side lost just one game enroute to the historic triumph in the 12-game season. In that tournament, Ishan was also the leading run-scorer with 517 runs to his kitty.
SRH will be expecting more of the same from the Bihar-born, who is fresh off a great World Cup title defense effort of the national team. He was India’s second highest run scorer behind Player of the Tournament, Sanju Samson.
Captain for First Leg
Abhishek Sharma’s role as deputy
Abhishek Sharma, who was pinned to be the leader in Cummins’ absence, ha now been made Ishan’s deputy. Abhishek has captained Punjab in the SMAT, but success as captain has eluded him just like runs did during most parts of the T20 World Cup 2026. While Ishan has played 119 IPL matches, Abhishek has featured in 77 so far.