Ishan Kishan to lead Sunrisers in early IPL 2026 matches

Sunrisers Hyderabad aim for a strong comeback in IPL 2026 under stand-by captain Ishan Kishan, focusing on consistency and improved bowling strength after a disappointing previous season, with key players expected to play crucial roles

Hyderabad: Former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, under a new leader in Ishan Kishan, one of the star performers in India’s victorious campaign in the recent T-20 World Cup, will be keen to brush aside the forgettable last IPL season when it failed to make it to the play-offs.

Well, after a sensational start to the 2025 season, all the talk was about whether Sunrisers would breach the near-impossible 300-mark. Later, the fortunes withered away to the dismay of its huge fan base.

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This time around, with regular captain and one of the fast bowling greats of the contemporary era, Aussie Pat Cummins, not available for the early phase of the 2026 IPL, it will be a huge responsibility on Ishan Kishan to make Sunrisers a force to reckon with and ensure the right kind of momentum early in the season.

No doubt, the top three in the Sunrisers batting – Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan – can demolish any bowling attack in any condition on their day. But what the team badly needs is the desired consistency right through a long season. By all means, South African Heinrich Klaasen continues to be the key player down the batting order.

How well England’s Liam Livingstone (bought for Rs 13 crores for this season) responds to the team’s call and strengthens the middle order is the big question. Fresh from his exploits in domestic cricket across all formats, young batter Smaran Ravichandran, with 950 runs in Ranji, 319 runs in Mushtaq Ali Trophy, can be the surprise hero for Sunrisers if he strikes form again.

The trading away of star pacer Mohammed Shami and release of Adam Zampa means focus shifts to the likes of Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse and Jaydev Unadkat in pace. In spin, left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis, Zeeshan Ansari and wrist spinner Shivang Kumar have to raise the bar.

Meanwhile, David Payne has replaced the injured Jack Edwards for this season.

Significantly, Sunrisers could not have expected a bigger challenge to their season campaign at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28 than taking on five-time champions Chennai Super Kings, which no doubt still banks on the aura of the legend MS Dhoni.

A contest which should give a fair hint of things to come for Sunrisers in their pursuit of excellence and consistency to regain the championship which they won in 2016.

Sunrisers then take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata (April 2) and Lucknow Super Giants at home (April 5).

The team: Abhishek Sharma, Amit Kumar, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan (stand-by captain for early games), David Payne, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Krains Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Onkar Tarmale, Pat Cummins (regular captain), Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Salil Arora, Shivam Mavi, Shivang Kumar, Smaran Ravichandran, Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari.