The IPL 2026 season will start with not just one, but two new captains. Rajasthan Royals has got a new captain in the form of Riyan Parag. Now another team will start its season with a new leader. This team is Sunrisers Hyderabad, which has taken this big decision. Sunrisers' star captain Pat Cummins will not be able to play in the initial matches due to injury, due to which the command of the team will be in the hands of explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan. Ishaan will hold the command till Cummins returns.

Australia's star fast bowler Pat Cummins, who has been captaining Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL for the last two seasons, has been troubled by injury for some time. Due to this, he could play only 1 match in the Ashes, while he was out of T20 World Cup 2026. It was expected that he would make a comeback in IPL but at present he has not been able to fully recover. Due to this, he will not be available in the initial matches of the tournament.

After this, there was talk of one of Ishaan and Abhishek Sharma becoming the captain. Now on March 18, the franchise officially announced. Sunrisers Hyderabad said in a social media post that Pat Cummins will not be able to play the first few matches due to injury. Till the return of Cummins, Ishan Kishan will lead SRH, while Abhishek Sharma will be the vice-captain of the team. This will be the first time that Ishaan and Abhishek will handle such responsibility in IPL.

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

Pat Cummins will miss a few games while recovering from injury.

Until he recovers, Ishan Kishan will be the Captain and Abhishek Sharma will be the Vice-Captain. pic.twitter.com/etXJUkQJeG

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 18, 2026

(The news is being updated)