SRH’s Vettori puts weight behind ‘leader’ Ishan

Bengaluru: Head coach Daniel Vettori on Friday said that the Sunrisers Hyderabad team management had little hesitation in handing over the stand-in captain’s job to Ishan Kishan as he proved to be a “confident player and leader.”

Regular skipper Pat Cummins will miss the early stages of IPL 2026, owing to a back injury.

“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,” Vettori said in the pre-match press meet here on Friday. “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.”

It also marks a rare occasion when every IPL team starts the season with Indian captains.

The Kiwi said Cummins could return to lead the side in the next fortnight or so. “His fitness has been exceptional because he’s been out of the game for an extended period of time, so, he’s had that time to work on that fitness.”