Until Pat Cummins returns, Sunrisers Hyderabad have named Ishan Kishan as their captain, with Abhishek Sharma as his deputy.
Ishan Kishan to replace injured Pat Cummins as SRH captain
In 2024, Cummins led Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first IPL final since 2018. However, he has had his run-ins with injuries, which forced him to miss four of the five Tests in the 2025/26 Ashes as well as the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The Ashes Test at Adelaide was, in fact, Cummins’ only professional cricket match since the West Indies tour of July 2025, where he led Australia to a 3-0 clean sweep.
In a social media share, SRH announced that Cummins will “miss a few games while recovering from injury”. For this period, Kishan will lead the franchise, while Abhishek will be his deputy.
Both Abhishek (52 in 21 balls) and Kishan (54 in 25) scored half-centuries for India in the T20 World Cup final when they beat New Zealand to defend their title. Earlier in the World Cup, they had opened together before Kishan dropped to three to accommodate Sanju Samson, the eventual Player of the Tournament, at the top.
Have Kishan or Abhishek led before?
Kishan recently led Jharkhand to their maiden title in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He top-scored with 517 runs at a strike rate of 197, which catalysed his selection to the Indian T20I unit. He has also led Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
He had been identified as a captain long before that. He had led India to the final of the 2016 U19 World Cup, and had led the Indian Board President’s XI against South Africa A and the England Lions.
Abhishek, too, has led Punjab in all three formats. He, too, has led the India U19s, in bilateral series as well as in the U19 Asia Cup – but never at the U19 World Cup.
