After a year of redemption, it's time for Captain Kishan

He was at a crossroads at the start of IPL 2025. Now he's a World Cup winner waiting to show the world his leadership skills

Shashank Kishore

Published: Mar 27, 2026, 5:33 PM (3 hrs ago)

Almost exactly a year after hitting reset on his career, Ishan Kishan finds himself captaining Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). It may only be an interim arrangement at the start of IPL 2026 while Pat Cummins recovers from a back niggle, but it presents a very real opportunity.

There's a runway here for Kishan to showcase his leadership credentials and make a tangible impact. And if he does, the possibilities could stretch far beyond the immediate.

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The challenge, though, is significant. At Jharkhand, whom he captained to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) tltle last season, he led a group that naturally gravitated towards him. In the IPL, it's a very different ecosystem. He's in a dressing room shaped by diverse cultures, experiences, and numerous established names, where each player brings his own methods and processes.

For SRH head coach Daniel Vettori, this step up feels like a natural progression in Kishan's journey.

"The leadership he exuded throughout that first season [2025], particularly in the back half when he took over wicketkeeping, really brought energy to the group and set up our back half of the year, and we were pretty successful in that period.

"So when Patty [Cummins] was unfortunately out of the initial stage of the tournament, we obviously had some decisions to make and his experience with his state team in particular had been so impressive. And then obviously he was in really good form. So between Abhishek [Sharma] and himself, we feel like we've got a really good leadership group to lead us this year."

Vettori has also seen "excitement" in Kishan about the role, and believes his experience of nearly a decade in the IPL bodes well, both personally and from a team standpoint.

"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 his own confidence around that. The fact that he's led India Under-19s and his state team - and they won SMAT this year - just brings a confident person, a confident player and a really confident leader."

The leadership call-up caps what has been a remarkable few months for Kishan. This time last year, he walked into a new IPL team with his career at a crossroads. His talent was never in doubt, but questions lingered about his attitude and commitment to domestic cricket.

He answered them emphatically during the SMAT, finishing as the tournament's highest run-getter, along the way demonstrating his appetite for leadership. Virat Singh, his Jharkhand team-mate, says Kishan spent more time around the rookies than he did with the coaches, making them "feel like they belong".

Ishank Jaggi, a mentor and former Jharkhand team-mate, points to a different dimension of that growth. Kishan has invested deeply, both financially and emotionally, in setting up a cricket academy in his hometown Patna, building the kind of facility he once had to leave home to access.

Kishan himself summed up his journey of growth with a touch of humour during the T20 World Cup, after scoring a match-winning half-century against Namibia. "No, I think I'm a changed man now, to be honest. I don't get into it [mischief] too much, but I do enjoy jokes and everything. Earlier I used to do it 24x7, now it's just two-three hours of it."

From a cricketing standpoint too, the signs of his evolution are clear. A stint in county cricket, even if cut short by a freak ebike accident, underlined his willingness to step outside his comfort zone.

By February, the sheer weight of his runs and impact had led to a return to India's T20I setup. From there, he smashed the selection door down, with the crowning glory coming in March when he was an integral part of India's T20 World Cup triumph.

When Kishan first arrived in the SRH set-up last year, he remembers picking up the phone and calling Abhishek.

"I straightaway asked him, 'What are you guys expecting? Do I have to come and hit each and every ball?' He was like, 'On point, yeah, that is your job. You come here, you hit each and every ball, you just enjoy in this team.'"

Back then, Kishan was looking for clarity. Now he'll be the one providing it.

Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

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