&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026: Ishan Kishan to captain SRH in Cummins’ absence, Abhishek named his deputy")
SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) has announced Ishan Kishan as their new standby captain for a few games early for IPL 2026 until regular skipper Pat Cummins attains full fitness and remains available for selection. Kishan will lead the star-studded SRH team in the tournament opener against the defending champions (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy on March 28. The newly-crowned T20 World Cup winner, Kishan, will have the emerging superstar Abhishek Sharma as his deputy.
Cummins would link up with the SRH squad on March 23, five days before the curtain-raiser, after Cricket Australia (CA) clears him to travel for the cash-rich league.
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Pat Cummins’ lumbar stress issue forced him to miss all international cricket since the away West Indies tour in July last summer, barring the Adelaide Test in the Ashes, including the remaining four Tests against England and Australia’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, where they failed to advance to the second round. Although there is no expected date for Cummins' return to the playing XI, his absence, however, has led to an incidental instance of all 10 IPL teams having Indian captains for the first time in 19 years.
Indian stars to lead SRH
For the first time since Cummins’ appointment as SRH’s captain in 2024, the two Indian youngsters will be at the helm of things at the franchise come this season. Bought for INR 11.25 crore ahead of the 2025 season, Kishan slammed his maiden IPL hundred for his new franchise in his first game, hitting an unbeaten 106 against Rajasthan Royals. He finished the season with just over 350 runs at a strike rate of 152.58.
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Meanwhile, his appointment as the standby captain has come on the back of a terrific run with the bat, both in domestic and international cricket. After leading Jharkhand to its maiden SMAT title last year, while also topping the runs chart, Kishan returned to the Indian squad for the T20 WCs dress-rehearsal five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home.
Kishan later opened with SRH’s new vice-captain Abhishek Sharma in the T20 World Cup before Sanju Samson reclaimed his opener’s slot during the Super 8 stage and made the tournament about himself. Team India's record third T20 World Cup crown also saw Kishan promoted as a standby captain for his IPL franchise.
