25 March,2026 04:39 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ishan Kishan (Pic: File Pic)
The IPL 2026 is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the league, Ishan Kishan has been appointed as captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the absence of Pat Cummins. The pacer is yet to regain full fitness, following which he will miss out on a few matches.
Speaking about his captaincy appointment, the left-handed batsman said expressed happiness for the opportunity and said that he will be focusing on keeping things simple for the players.
"I am very overwhelmed, and I am very happy that I got this opportunity to lead this team. And, to be very honest, I am going to just keep it simple, not to do so much because when players come for IPL, I think they are all very good players. You just need to make sure that they are on the right track. And their mindset does not change after a few innings, going here and there. And the rest is, you know, it is going to be a good season, I guess, and we will just do it together," he said.
He also emphasized the importance of being in a good headspace and said that the players will look to enjoy the game and take one match at a time.
"I think there is lots and lots and lots of learning in this season because I will tell you, in the last few years, I have understood one thing, the most important thing for a cricketer is to be in a very good headspace throughout the season," said Ishan Kishan.
"So, mostly this season, we will make sure we just stay in the present, we just keep it simple and do as much hard work as we can before the match starts. But in the match, we are just going to enjoy the game and take one match at a time," he added.
The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and SRH at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Ishan Kishan (WK), Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, Zeeshan Ansari, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Harsh Dubey, Salil Arora (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Smaran Ravichandran, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Aniket Verma, Shivang Kumar, Krains Bhaveshbhai Fuletra, Omkar Tarmale.
(With ANI Inputs)
