Sunrisers Hyderabad will start their IPL 2026 season against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28. The match will be crucial for the Hyderabad side, who will be aiming to bounce back from their sixth-place finish in the previous season.

Ishan Kishan will be taking over the role of the team captain, replacing Pat Cummins, who is currently recovering from a back injury. The spotlight will be on Ishan Kishan, who will be taking over the responsibility in a big game.

Ishan Kishan will become the youngest Indian captain for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL when he reaches 27 years and 253 days of age.

He will surpass all former captains who include Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Overall, he will be the second-youngest captain in the team’s history.

The record for the youngest captain still belongs to Kane Williamson, who led the side in 2018 at 27 years and 244 days.

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Head coach Daniel Vettori has shown full support for Kishan as captain. The wicketkeeper-batter has the necessary experience and confidence needed to lead the team according to him.

Vettori said:

"I think Ishan's been around in the IPL for a long period of time now. He's been with a number of teams and he's been highly successful, so, he brings in his own confidence around that."

He Added:

"The fact that he's led the U19s and his state team and they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year brings a confident person, a confident player and a really confident leader and those are the attributes that we really looked at when he was appointed."

He further said:

"His combination with Abhishek, they're good friends, they know the team exceptionally well and I really feel like those two will lead from the front this season."

Ishan Kishan enters the IPL 2026 season with excellent performance. He helped India win the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 by scoring 317 runs in nine innings at a strike rate close to 200.

He scored 103 runs against New Zealand before the IPL started. On the domestic stage he led Jharkhand to their first Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title by winning 10 out of 11 matches.

Kishan scored 354 runs in IPL 2025 in 13 innings which included one century and one half-century. Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to keep him because of his excellent play and his ability to guide the team.

After a poor finish last season, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be hoping for a strong start in IPL 2026. With Ishan Kishan leading the team and players like Abhishek Sharma supporting him, the team will look to perform better this year.

The opening match against RCB will be a big test for the new captain.