SRH Youngsters in Line To Replace Pat Cummins As Skipper at the Start of IPL 2026

Talented India and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) top-order batters Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan are in queue to take over the franchise captaincy at the start of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) season. With regular skipper Pat Cummins expected to miss the start of the tournament due to injury, the dynamic left-handers have emerged as the frontrunners to shoulder the leadership responsibilities.

Notably, the Aussie had been out of action since mid of last year, playing just one competitive game from July 2025 till now. He made a return to feature in just a solitary Ashes Test, missing out on the other four and also did not play in the recent T20 World Cup 2026. For the unversed, Cummins had suffered a back injury post the three-match Test series against West Indies last year.

Now, with the star all-rounder focused on his rehabilitation and recovery, there is no certainty on when he will arrive in India for the IPL 2026, forcing the Hyderabad outfit to look for alternatives with the IPL 2026 season scheduled to start from March 28.

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Who has the edge between Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan to takeover the SRH captaincy for IPL 2026?

While both players are equally talented and impeccable hitters of the ball, Ishan Kishan might have the edge to be bestowed with the captaincy reins. There could be a couple of reasons for the same.

One is that Ishan Kishan has experience of captaining in domestic cricket, and had led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2025) last year apart from finishing as the top-scorer of the tournament.

Another reason is that Ishan’s recent form has been extremely good whereas Abhishek had struggled. In the T20 World Cup 2026, Abhishek could manage just 141 runs in eight matches at a paltry average of 17.62. On the other hand, Ishan has continued his stellar form from domestic cricket to the IND vs NZ series as well as the ICC event, where he finished as India’s second-highest run-scorer after Sanju Samson wih 317 runs at an average of 35 and a fiery strike rate of 193.29, including three fifties.

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