IPL 2026 starts on March 28 and Sunrisers Hyderabad are heading into their opening match against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru without their captain.

Pat Cummins, who has been managing a long-standing back injury since December, has received clearance from Cricket Australia to honor his IPL contract but is not yet ready to play.

SRH have now made it official on their social media channels, Ishan Kishan will captain the side in Cummins’ absence, with Abhishek Sharma named as his deputy.

Why Ishan Kishan got the nod to captain Sunrisers Hyderabad

The SRH management was always clear on this call despite the speculation that swirled around the interim captaincy in the days leading up to the announcement.

Ishan Kishan, 27, is the senior of the two with 119 IPL appearances to his name compared to Abhishek’s 77, and both players arrive on the back of significant roles in India’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Ishan Kishan in particular was one of the tournament’s standout performers, finishing as India’s second-highest run-scorer with 317 runs across nine innings at an average of 35.22 and a strike rate above 193, including three half-centuries and a crucial contribution in the final against New Zealand.

That kind of form on that kind of stage gives him a credibility walking into the captaincy role that is difficult to argue against. Abhishek Sharma as vice-captain is a natural fit alongside him, the two played pivotal roles in India’s World Cup campaign together and their combination at the top of SRH’s batting order gives the leadership group a familiarity that should help the side find its feet quickly without Cummins.

What the Pat Cummins situation actually looks like for IPL 2026

Pat Cummins has been out of competitive cricket since featuring in just one Ashes Test in Adelaide in December, a back injury keeping him sidelined before and after that game and ruling him out of the T20 World Cup entirely.

Pat Cummins is expected to report to the SRH camp on March 23 and will undergo rehabilitation with the franchise in India, but he could miss the first three matches of the season.

SRH open against RCB in Bengaluru on March 28, travel to face Kolkata Knight Riders on April 2, and then return home to host Lucknow Super Giants on April 5, meaning Cummins could be watching all three from the sidelines before resuming leadership duties.

The arrangement is temporary and the franchise has been clear about that, Pat Cummins takes the captaincy back the moment he is fit. In 30 matches as SRH captain he has won 15 and lost 14, guiding the side to the 2024 final before a sixth-place finish last season.

The expectation is that his return will sharpen a side that is already competitive but is navigating the start of its campaign with one of its most important players still finding his way back to full fitness.